YEREVAN. - Territorial concessions are not a key to resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Arman Melikyan, the former FM of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Melikyan commented on Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s statement that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict might have been settled in 1997 by means of some territorial concessions in exchange for interim - and later final – status of Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Territorial concessions would have only ousted Russia from the negotiation process and changed the geopolitical situation in the region, which was not at all in the interests of landlocked Armenia,” Melikyan said.

It was under Ter-Petrosyan’s presidency that the Armenian side made a blunder in the negotiation process.

“The Armenian side did not place emphasis on the refugee factor, which has since been to the Armenian sides’ detriment. They should have thought about resolving the refugee problem rather than about yielding territories to Azerbaijan,” Melikyan said.

In an interview with the BBC, Ter-Petrosyan said that a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was the most realistic in 1997, when the problem could be resolved by yielding some territories to Azerbaijan, concluding a truce, and creating an interim status for Nagorno-Karabakh to determine its final status later. However, Stepanakert, as well as Ter-Petrosyan’s milieu, objected to the idea. They believed negotiations would produce even better results.