Armenian politicians are of the unanimous opinion that the Nagorno-Karabakh people’s will and prosperity must first of all be considered in any settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Richard Giragosian, Director of the Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS), stated at a presentation of the paper on thorough discussions of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

A team of the London Information Network on Conflicts and State Building (LINKS) started interviewing the leaders of Armenian and Azerbaijani political parties and NGOs this June. Twenty-three political parties and six NGOs in Armenia, and 22 parties and 16 NGOs in Azerbaijan were interviewed.

Giragosian pointed out that most of the Armenian political parties believe Nagorno-Karabakh needs independence. Some of them call for immediate recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh. All the parties are for the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process within the OSCE Minsk Group. Most of the respondents do not see any alternative to the OSCE Minsk Group.

On the other hand, political parties hold rather different opinions the role of countries or groups of countries in the peace of process. However, they unanimously rule out Turkey’s involvement in the process. Iran’s position is perceived as balanced. Some political leaders would like the EU’s more active involvement in the process, and others are even disappointed that the EU is not actively involved, Giragosian said. Many parties believe Nagorno-Karabakh must be involved in the negotiations.

LINKS Executive Director Dennis Sammut said that few of the leaders of Armenian parties consider the interests of the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh – people displaced because of the conflict. Armenian political forces are sure that Azerbaijan decided on a military solution to the conflict long ago.

LINK aims at facilitating comprehensive discussions on the Nagorno-Karabakh problem and settlement of the conflict with the involvement of Armenian and Azerbaijani political forces.