Karabakh leader urges action on Azerbaijan threats
10:01 29.04.20130
The international community must take Azerbaijan’s threats of
regaining the disputed region of Nagorny Karabakh seriously and
condemn Baku’s ongoing arms-buying spree, NKR President Bako Sahakyan
said.
In France for a three-day visit, Bako Sahakian told AFP he saw no
signs of a breakthrough in peace talks and warned that Azerbaijan was
stoking tensions with enormous arms purchases.
`We can only be worried by the policy of militarisation and
over-arming undertaken by Azerbaijan, because there are also clear and
explicit threats against our country,’ he said.
`The international community must react to this situation,’ he added.
But he said the negotiations should be expanded to include
representatives of the authorities in Karabakh, which is home to about
150,000 people.
`To have real and serious progress in the negotiating process the
format must be re-established to have participants from Nagorno
Karabakh,’ Sahakyan said.
He said he believed a negotiated solution was possible and insisted
authorities in Karabakh would not be the ones to start a new war.
`It is a complex conflict, you cannot expect a solution from one day
to the next. But there is no alternative to peace and dialogue,’
Sahakyan said.
Sahakyan said he was hoping to drum up investment in France in the
hopes of boosting the region’s small economy, which relies mainly on
agriculture, manufacturing and some mining.
He said he also expected progress soon on one of the region’s key
efforts – resuming commercial flights into a revamped airport in the
capital, Stepanakert.
Sahakian said Karabakh was `not very far’ from being prepared to
restore flights into the region and that he hoped they could resume
this year.
`This initiative must not be linked with resolving the conflict or be
seen in this context,’ Sahakian said. `Civil flights that will be
established between Yerevan and Stepanakert are aimed simply at
helping us emerge from the isolation that has been imposed on us.’