STEPANAKERT (Combined Sources)–The president of Mountainous Karabagh Republic (MKR) and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Special Representative on the Karabagh conflict met in the capital of MKR–Stepanakert–on June 4.
Thanking OSCE’s Goran Lennmarker for his visit–MKR President Arkady Ghukassian said that only immediate interaction between mediators and MKR representatives–as well as Stepanakert’s equal participation in negotiations–could end the stalemate to bring about a peaceful resolution.
Ghukassian expressed hope that the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s interest in resolving the conflict–as well as its cooperation and involvement–would help the establishment of peace in the region.
He–at the same time–stressed that Azerbaijan’s extremism via a concerted effort to stir anti-Armenian propaganda–especially among its population–is destructive and stands in the way of progress.
The efforts of international mediators–stressed Ghukassian–would better be served if they concentrated on creating conditions for a balanced dialogue between MKR and Azerbaijan–rather than formulating suggestions.
Lennmarker said that the goal of his fact-finding mission to MKR and the region is to seek a speedy resolution to the conflict–indicating that all of Europe is interested in accelerating the peace process.
He said that the experience gained in settling past conflicts would be a valuable tool in expediting the matter–and ruled out a military settlement to the conflict.