MOSCOW, July 13 (RIA Novosti) - The international community should recognize Nagorny Karabakh as an independent state, the president of the disputed region said Monday in an exclusive interview with RIA Novosti.
Nagorny Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan with a largely Armenian population, has been a source of conflict between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan since the late 1980s. The province has its own government and is de facto independent, with close ties to neighboring Armenia.
"I think not only experts but simply people familiar with the Karabakh problem can unanimously confirm that the Nagorny Karabakh Republic was proclaimed on the basis of all international norms and principles," Baako Saakyan said when asked whether there were legal grounds for the republic to be recognized.
The presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan, discussed the conflict last month in Prague on the sidelines of the EU's Eastern Partnership summit. They said there had been some progress and are expected to meet in Russia on July 17.
A war between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the mountainous enclave in 1988-1994 left an estimated 35,000 people dead. Sporadic violence on the border has continued ever since.
Moscow pushed the two countries together last year in an effort to get the stalled peace process moving again.
Saakyan said the republic should be involved in the negotiating process.
"Any document, any initiative that does not presuppose the participation of the Nagorny Karabakh Republic is relative, and our efforts are now aimed at ensuring that such documents and initiatives are coordinated with us and, moreover, that without fail everything takes place with our participation," Saakyan said.
Asked on the possibility of a military resolution to the conflict, Saakyan said: "Remaining adherents to the peaceful conflict resolution, we have always said that should Azerbaijan decide to resolve the issue in this way [aggressively], it will receive the appropriate rebuff."
