STEPANAKERT (Armenpress)–Nagorno-Karabakh Republic President Bako Sahakian was inaugurated Friday. During his inaugural remarks, Sahakian called for the inclusion of Karabakh within the ongoing peace process.
Attending the inauguration ceremony were outgoing president Arkady Ghoukasian, Armenian President Robert Kocharian, representatives of the Armenian political parties, delegations from Armenia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, as well as Deputy Speaker of British House of Lords Baroness Caroline Cox.
Opening the session, the Speaker of the Nagrono-Karabakh Republic Parliament Ashot Ghulian said “of course the victory of us all as it witnesses that in spite of political viewpoints and existing controversies over different issues we have the same concerns and expectations in the issues which are vital and have strategic importance for our country.”
Following taking the oath of office, Sahakian made remarks, in which he praised the people of Karabakh for participating in the election, thus further strengthening democratic principles and rule of law.
He also thanked first President of Karabakh, Robert Kocharian, for declaring Karabakh independent state, restoring its economy and infrastructures, confronting military attack and for contribution to the fair regulation of the Karabakh conflict.
“The achievemen’s of the recent period give me grounds on behalf of our people and myself to thank the second President of Karabakh Arkady Ghukasian, who headed the implementation of reforms on social-economic sphere of the country, democratization of the state and during whose office the state had its main law of the state ‘s Karabakh Constitution.”
“We have a clear-cut agenda of challenges facing our republic. To address them we need to reshape the policy of socioeconomic development and put special emphasize on exploring investment resources directing them into the most perspective fields. Available scientific and intellectual potential will also serve this purpose,” said Sahakian.
“International recognition of the Artsakh Republic, which is a pillar of our foreign policy, will give a serious impetus to the pace of our development. This is also in the interests of the region. The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Army will be ready to rebuff any attack against our state and society. The issues of army building, strengthening defense capacity, solving social problems of the servicemen will be always in the focus of attention,” added Sahakian.
“We exclusively adhere to the principles of peaceful settlement of the Karabakh-Azerbaijan conflict. Highly appreciating the efforts of international mediators, we hope that our opponents will eventually realize that there is no alternative to the full participation of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic in the negotiation process,” asserted the newly inaugurated president.
“International recognition of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic is the most important task that requires hard work to further consolidate potentials of Artsakh, Armenia and the Diaspora and deepen traditional cooperation. Our strength is in our unity,” concluded Sahakian.
