Armenia - Nagorno-Karabakh Interparliamentary Committee demands NKR’s full participation in negotiations

The Interparliamentary Committee of the National Assembly of Armenia and the National Assembly of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) released a statement urging the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing states to take steps to ensure the withdrawal of snipers from the borderline between Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan, investigation into incidents and prevention of hate speech and actions.

The Interparliamentary Committee also urges the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to take measures to ensure Nagorno-Karabakh’s full participation in all the stages of the negotiation process.

In its statement, the Interparliamentary Committee stresses the full conformity of the declaration of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic with the fundamental principles of international law and with the law of the then USSR, as well as the fact of the Republic of Armenia being guarantor of the Artsakh people’s right to self-determination.

The statement says that, in response to the Nagorno-Karabakh people’s free expression of will, Azerbaijan adopted a policy of ethnic cleansing and settling the issue by force, and has been pursuing it to date.

The international recognition of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) will ensure the irreversibility of negotiations for a settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict and signal the impermissibility of the use of force or threat of force for Azerbaijan.

The ceasefire agreement signed by Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan and Armenia, which took effect on May 12, 1994, was a significant achievement in settling the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict and was possible due to direct negotiations between the Azerbaijani and Nagorno-Karabakh leaderships.

Re-affirming its readiness to a peaceful settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict, the Interparliamentary Committee
States the necessity for consolidating of the ceasefire between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan, which is a guarantee of a final settlement.

Urges the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing states to take steps to ensure the withdrawal of snipers from the borderline between Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan, investigation into incidents and prevention of hate speech and actions.

The Interparliamentary Committee is sure that the Armenian people in Armenia, Artsakh and the Armenian Diaspora, will, as before, use its potential to ensure the Nagorno-Karabakh people’s right to self-determination and security, which is guaranteed by the UN Charter and fundamental international legal documents.

It calls on the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to take measures to ensure Nagorno-Karabakh’s full participation in all the stages of the negotiation process.