STEPANAKERT (Azg)–The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic must not hurry to recognize Abkhazia, said the country’s parliament speaker Ashot Ghulian at a press conference Tuesday to brief the press about a recent visit to Abkhazia to celebrate that country’s independence anniversary.
A delegation, headed by Ghulian, visited the Abkhaz capital of Sukhumi on Sept. 29 at the invitation of that country’s parliamentary leader to mark the 15th anniversary of Abkhazia’s independence.
Ghulian noted that Karabakh should not be hasty in establishing diplomatic relations with Abkhazia, but should allow the development of inter-parliamentary relations to set the course.
Ghulian also remarked that the recognition of Abkhazian, S. Ossetian and Kosovar independence happened in non-conventional ways, which does not indicate that they are fully recognized states. At the same time, he added, that in the case of Abkhazia and S. Ossetia, the move to recognize those states was aimed to guarantee their security.
The parliament speaker said the Karabakh issue differed from the aforementioned instances. “We have more chances to attain complete international recognition, since we are approaching it from a conventional stand point,” said Ghulian.
While in Sukhumi, the Karabakh delegation met with Abkhazia’s parliament chairman, foreign minister and representatives of the Armenian community.
The parliament speaker reported that the two parliamen’s agreed to develop a document outlining inter-parliamentary cooperation and addressed future cooperation mechanisms with the foreign ministry.
The fact that the two countries do not share a common border poses a challenge for economic cooperation, said Ghulian.
