Weekend Update: Nalbandyan/Mammadyarov Meeting Dominates News

Weekend Update: Nalbandyan/Mammadyarov Meeting Dominates News

By Julia Hakobyan

armenianow.com – 29/10/2012
Foreign Ministers Edward Nalbandyan , Elmar Mammadyarov and MG co-chairs met on Saturday in Paris.
News related to recognition of Nagorno Karabakh and conflict settlement dominated local weekend news as the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers met in Paris.
Ministers Edward Nalbandyan and Elmar Mammadyarov met in France's capital on Saturday for the first time after the scandal sparked by Ramil Safarov's extradition to Baku last August. The Azerbaijani army officer was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Budapest court after killing an Armenian officer, Gurgen Margaryan, while attending NATO's Partnership for Peace lessons in Hungary, in 2004. In August he was extradited to Azerbaijan and immediately pardoned, sparking international outrage.
The foreign ministers who held meeting in the presence of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs expressed the necessity on lowering the tensions between the countries and agreed on resuming talks during the Minsk's Group's regional visit in November.
Meanwhile in Karabakh, the National Assembly has sent a message to the upper house of the Parliament of the Australian State of New South Wales, expressing the gratitude about the adoption of the resolution recognizing the right of people of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic for self-determination. "We are confident that the international recognition of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic will play an important and decisive role in the process of settlement of the Karabakh conflict, will contribute to the establishment of lasting peace and stability in the region," says the message.
In Yerevan, a spokesperson of the ruling Republican Party Edward Sharmazanov drew parallels between Karabakh and another landlocked country, alluding to the signing of a document on establishing diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and South Sudan, the country which proclaimed independence last year. Sharmazanov said that by that move Azerbaijan has paved way for the recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh.
"By signing the document, Azerbaijan affirmed that the race for people's right to self-determination continues around the world. This action is promoting the recognition of NKR independence on the international level, because by this step Azerbaijan accepts that there is no other option for NKR recognition", noted Armenia's National Assembly Vice Chairman.
Speaking on Karabakh's steps toward recognition, ex-foreign minister of the NKR Arman Melikyan at Saturday's press conference in Yerevan said that the implementation of the EU-funded programs in NKR "is the first step on the hard road of recognition of the NKR's independence by the EU". He welcomed the launch by the European Union of a second phase of civil society program in Karabakh, aimed at supporting the peace-building efforts concerning the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Partnership for the Peaceful Settlement of the Conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh (EPNK) program, a consortium of five European NGOs which will last three years is a continuation of a program launched in 2009.
In Karabakh, NKR Defense Minister, Movses Hakobyan told media that Official Baku keeps impeding inquiries into incidents on the line of contact of the NKR and Azerbaijan armed forces. The minister said that Karabakh has repeatedly expressed readiness to develop and apply certain mechanisms to inquire into shootings on the front line at the request of the OSCE Minsk Group co- chairs. NKR Defense Army reported, that between October 21-27, 250 cases of ceasefire violation with about 1200 shots by the Azerbaijani side were registered at the contact line.
Member of Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaksutyun, MP Armen Rustamyan welcomes the fact, that Armenian authorities are revising their position on Nagorno-Karabakh and once again reaffirmed the Dashnaks's position, that Armenian authorities must not separate the Nagorno-Karabakh problem from the rest of Hay-Dat agenda. "Serzh Sargsyan's recent interview to Italy's Quotidiano Nazionale, where he said that the world community applies double standards to the Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenian Genocide issues proves that the Armenian authorities are reconsidering their policy. But words are not enough - they must act to satisfy the fair claims of the Armenian nation," Rustamyan said.
Meanwhile, Russian military base in Armenia reports it is going to replace about 3,000 servicemen in a scheduled rotation. In a Friday statement, the Southern Military District reported that the first group of about 150 conscript servicemen, among them soldiers and sergeants who have undergone training as snipers, mechanics, sight gunners, grenade throwers and reconnaissance officers, have arrived in Yerevan to replace servicemen sent to the reserve. The rotation will last until the end of November when the regular training period begins. The military base's numerical strength will remain the same.
Compiled by reporter Julia Hakobyan, gathered from local online outlets
http://armenianow.com/news/40628/armenia_karabakh_independence_nalbandyan_paris