31 May 2007, 15:53
Newspaper of Russian Armenians calls on Armenia not to make concessions to Azerbaijan
The correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the newspaper of Russian Armenians "Erkramas" made the following statement:
"On June 10, negotiations are planned in Saint Petersburg of Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan and Ilham Aliev, which can become decisive for settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The negotiations will be held at the background of unprecedented in their cynicism statements of Yuri Merzliakov, co-chairman of the Minsk OSCE Group, made during his visit to Baku that Armenia should 'liberate 7 districts' and that 'Nagorno-Karabakh is an integral part of Azerbaijan'. The statements of this sort made by one of the mediators in the negotiation process are in fact predefining the outcomes of the negotiations and contradict to the mandate of the co-chairmen.
We are convinced that the status of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) and the future of the territories around the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region (NKAD) should be decided first of all by the people of the NKR.
The newspaper of Russian Armenians 'Erkramas,' acting on behalf of its readers, is calling on the leaders of Armenia to reject signing the treaty that infringes the interests of the Armenian nation, and in case of political pressure from any third country, to refuse from continuation of negotiations and officially recognize the independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic."
Author: Artem Dvinov, CK correspondent
