Armenia should have recognized Nagorno-Karabakh in 1992, but it delayed and made a mistake, the leader of “Heritage” Party Raffi Hovhannisyan stated at a press conference on Friday.

According to him, Armenia missed an opportunity for the recognition of Karabakh’s independence in 1994. At the signing of the trilateral ceasefire agreement, Armenia should have recognized Nagorno-Karabakh, he stressed.

Obviously there were states, apparently ready to recognize Nagorno-Karabakh’s independence, but the fact Armenia failed to recognize Karabakh’s independence hindered the process. “We did not show political courage to recognize Karabakh, whereas the issue should have been solved long before Kosovo proclaimed independence,” Hovhannisyan said.

He emphasized if Armenia pursues a rational policy, the Kosovo’s precedent could have been used in case of Karabakh.

On July 22, the International Court of Justice in The Hague concluded that Kosovo’s unilateral secession from Serbia in 2008 did not violate international law.