STEPANAKERT (Noyan Tapan)–Karabakh Foreign Minister–Naira Melkoumian–met with the Union of "Democratic Artsakh"–on July 30–accepting the invitation of the Union’s Central Council.
After greeting the minister–Ashot Ghoulian–Co-Chairman of the Union–noted that the meeting was the first among a series of meetings that the Central Council plans to hold with government officials. The meetings are intended to better acquaint citizens with the activities of the Republic’s leadership in domestic and foreign policy.
In her speech–Naira Melkoumian stressed the significance of such political organizations–because–she said–they are the voice of the people and the vehicle whereby its members contribute to the betterment of the society. The minister emphasized that it would be easier for the leadership of Karabakh to assert the Republic’s interests in the international arena if the political forces supported its decisions.
At the request of the participants–Naira Melkoumian noted that currently the Karabakh problem was one of the priorities of international policy. According to her–the international community is attentively following the development of the peacemaking process–since the fate of the whole region depends on the resolution of this problem.
Melkoumian expressed her satisfaction with the Co-Chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group which actually acknowledged the necessity of taking into account both the existing realities and the interests of people of Karabakh. The Foreign Minister spoke of the Republic’s leadership and its undertaking of political–diplomatic–and other necessary steps to prevent a new threat to the security of Karabakh. Melkoumian also stressed the need to intensify the parties’ role in foreign policy decision making. In particular–she expressed her opinion regarding the necessity of deepening the mutual cooperation between the public and political forces of Armenia and Karabakh–in order represent the interests of Karabakh within the international arena.
At the meeting–the Minister answered numerous questions connected with the political and economic processes in the region.