YEREVAN. - Baku must sooner or later recognize the rights of the Nagorno-Karabakh people. 

Spokesman for the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), Eduard Sharmazanov, who is also the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly (NA), said the aforementioned in the parliament Tuesday.

In his words, the Armenian side is for the peaceful settlement on the basis of the Nagorno-Karabakh people’s right to self-determination. The Azerbaijani leader states that the status of autonomy can be granted to Nagorno-Karabakh. “But I would like to note that is not for Azerbaijan to do. The Nagorno-Karabakh people have already given themselves a status through referendum. Time is needed for that right to become reality,” Sharmazanov stressed.

According to him, immediately after Aliyev’s statement on autonomy, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs met with Karabakh President Bako Sahakyan. “This meeting shows that the Co-Chairs acknowledge that sooner or later Stepanakert must return to the negotiation table and that no comprehensive decision can be found without the Nagorno-Karabakh people,” the Deputy Speaker said.

Sharmaznaov also noted that the U.S. Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, James Warlick, on Monday noted in Yerevan that the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh should be determined through a referendum.  “There is only one conclusion: Azerbaijan will have to sooner or later recognize the rights of Nagorno-Karabakh people and independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic,” he concluded.