04:00, 11 May 2009

Bako Saakyan: Nagorno-Karabakh should be full-fledged party in negotiations

Nagorno-Karabakh should be an equal party in the negotiating process on settlement of the Karabakh conflict, as stated by Bako Saakyan, President of Nagorno-Karabakh.

"Today, negotiations are held in the format, where Karabakh is no party. Armenia, in the person of its President Serzh Sargsyan, makes efforts to restore, first of all, the decision of the Budapest summit, according to which Karabakh should be a full-fledged party in negotiations," Mr Saakyan told journalists in the city of Shushi.

"This is not Azerbaijani territory, and the sooner the political authorities of the neighbouring country recognize it, the sooner the final settlement of the problem will be reached," the "Tert.am" quotes Bako Saakyan as saying.

Armen Martirosyan, leader of the Armenian oppositional parliamentary faction "Heritage", said that today the initiative to involve Nagorno-Karabakh into the negotiating process has its supporters in the Parliament of Armenia; however, the point is not on the agenda so far, as the "News Armenia" reports.