STEPANAKERT. – The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs secured themselves by the statement on the outcome of the presidential elections held in Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), head of the Public Council for Foreign and Security Policy of Karabakh Masis Mayilyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Regarding the extract from the statement, claiming that ‘the Co-Chairs acknowledge the need for the de facto authorities in NK to try to organize democratically the public life of their population with such a procedure,’ Mayilyan said that the tone of the statement has changed by the Co-Chairs and other international players regarding the Karabakh elections.

“If holding democratic procedure in Karabakh was criticized before, now the Co-Chairs acknowledge the need for holding elections. By developing democracy in Karabakh, we set preconditions for the international recognition of its independence. It is necessary, but not enough,” Mayilyan added. “It is the international recognition of Karabakh, which can hamper military perspective of settling the Karabakh conflict and provide equal conditions for discussing key problems of the settlement. The Co-Chairs should review their old approaches.”

As the agency informed earlier, the Co-Chairs acknowledge the need for the de facto authorities in Karabakh to try to organize democratically the public life of their population with such a procedure.  However, the Co-Chairs note that none of their three countries recognizes Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent and sovereign state.

The Co-Chairs stress that the procedures of July 19 in no way prejudge the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh or the outcome of the ongoing negotiations to bring a lasting and peaceful settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.