STEPANAKERT (Noyan Tapan)–Armenian National Assembly speaker Khosrov Harutunian and his counterpart in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Oleg Yessayan during a ceremony Friday signed an interparliamentary cooperation agreement.
During a press conference following the ceremony–Harutunian stated that the agreement began a new chapter in Armenia-Karabakh relations–adding that the agreement was a de facto recognition of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic–adding that an official recognition will take place under international principles and norms.
Harutunian added that the agreement was a permanent one between the two countries.
During his statemen’s at the press conference–Yessayan stated that the official Stepanakert position remained unchanged vis–vis the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict–adding that Karabakh envisioned the conflict to be resolved through the "package deal" approach whereby the status of Karabakh is addressed simultaneously with all other issues involved with the conflict.
Yessayan added that there were no disagreemen’s between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh on the conflict resolution–further stressing the need for direct dialogue between Azerbaijan and Karabakh representatives.
The Karabakh speaker stated that Armenia and Karabakh have the least to gain by a presumed resumption of military activities in the region and stressed that there was no other option but the peaceful resolution of the conflict.
"The only guarantee to not resume war is being prepared for war," stated Yessayan.
The Armenian delegation was later greeted by Nagorno-Karabakh Republic president Arkady Ghoukassian and Defense Minister Samvel Babayan.
