[Editor’s Note: The Armenian Assembly of America issued the following statement in regard to the Nagorno Karabagh peace process.]
On the occasion of the July 17-18 meetings of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Moscow, in regard to the Nagorno Karabagh peace process, under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Minsk Group (OSCE), the Assembly reiterates its long-standing position that any resolution must be acceptable to the people of both Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh.
The meetings follow the joint declaration by the presidents of the United States, France and Russia on July 10, at the recent Group of Eight conference in Italy, in which the presidents instructed the “mediators to present to the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan an updated version of the Madrid Document of November 2007, the co-chairs’ last articulation of the Basic Principles,” and urged the parties to “resolve the few remaining differences …”
The issues are complex and will require time to reach a solution that is acceptable to all parties, and most specifically to the citizens of the Nagorno Karabagh Republic. Throughout the ongoing negotiation process, and again on July 16, the Armenian government has stated that no agreement can be reached without the concurrence of the government and citizens of Nagorno Karabagh. We fully endorse that policy and urge the Minsk Group co-chairs to ensure that the government of Nagorno Karabagh joins the negotiation process as soon as possible. We note that the OSCE co-chairs have repeatedly, and as recently as July 8, called for the inclusion of Nagorno Karabagh.
We urge the United States, in particular, to ensure the fulfillment of President Barack Obama’s campaign pledge “to work for a lasting and durable settlement of the Nagorno Karabagh conflict that is agreeable to all parties, and based upon America’s founding commitment to the principles of democracy and self determination.” The Assembly also recalls the leadership of the United States Senate and the passage of S.J. Res. 178 in 1989, which expressed US support for “the fundamental rights and the aspirations of the people of Nagorno Karabagh.”
