The recent joint statement by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs used the word Khankendi together with Stepanakert, as the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, David Harutyunyan, an Armenian National Congress (ANC) member, stated at an oppositional rally in Yerevan on September 17. He stressed Azerbaijan goes on dictating its conditions in all the international agencies and demands unprecedented concessions from Armenia.

“Armenia should make serious steps. The Armenian National Congress tried to do this, but the Armenian Foreign Ministry said they have no comments. This is a complete and gross ignorance. The current authorities aim at staying in power for another day, rather than strengthening positions of the state,” Shahnazaryan noted.

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassadors Igor Popov of Russia, Bernard Fassier of France, and Robert Bradtke of the United States, issues a joint statement after visiting Baku, Nagorno-Karabakh and Yerevan on September 6-9. The Co-Chairs again strongly urged all parties to respect the cease-fire and exercise restraint on the ground and in their public statements, and called for an end to incursions across the Line of Contact. At the same time they reiterated that the OSCE Minsk Group remains the sole framework for a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.