Zharangutiun Faction: Postponement Of Vote On Recognition Of Nagorno

ZHARANGUTIUN FACTION: POSTPONEMENT OF VOTE ON RECOGNITION OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH REPUBLIC’S INDEPENDENCE IS NOT RETREAT

/ARKA/
October 29, 2010
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, October 29. /ARKA/. Zharangutiun (Heritage) faction in
Armenian National Assembly doesn’t view postponement of the vote on
recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s independence as retreat.

Armen Martirosyan, a member of the faction, said “nobody announced
a war to retreat”.

On Thursday, Armenian National Assembly decided to postpone the
vote on the Zharangutiun-proposed bill calling for recognition of
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s independence for December 9.

The bill remains on the agenda pending for the OSCE summit scheduled
for December 1.

Safaryan said that the decision was made after parliamentary factions’
consultations.

Karabakh conflict broke out in 1988 when Karabakh, mainly populated
by Armenians, declared its independence from Azerbaijan.

On December 10, 1991, a few days after the collapse of the Soviet
Union, a referendum took place in Nagorno-Karabakh, and the majority
of the population (99.89%) voted for secession from Azerbaijan.

Afterwards, large-scale military operations began. As a result,
Azerbaijan lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven regions
adjacent to it.

Some 30,000 people were killed in this war and about one million
people fled their homes.

On May 12, 1994, the Bishkek cease-fire agreement put an end to the
military operations.

Since 1992, talks brokered by OSCE Minsk Group are being held over
peaceful settlement of the conflict. The group is co-chaired by USA,
Russia and France.

From: A. Papazian