YEREVAN. – Experience has shown that a pre-election year is not productive for settlement of the Karabakh conflict, Armenian National Assembly (NA) Deputy Speaker and the ruling coalition’s Republican Party of Armenia spokesperson Eduard Sharmazanov stated during a press conference on Monday. 

“2012 will be a pre-election year for Armenia and Azerbaijan, and experience has shown that a pre-election year is not productive for a settlement. But Armenia’s approach is in keeping with the international community’s approach. The conflict must be settled within the boundaries of international law. The world is moving toward the pre-eminence of the right for self-determination, and the vivid example of this is South Sudan. I am confident that one day Nagorno-Karabakh will become an independent state,” Eduard Sharmazanov noted.       

As per NA Deputy Speaker, if the international community truly wishes for the conflict to be settled, Nagorno-Karabakh must become a negotiating side, and Azerbaijan must refrain from racist statements.