Presidential candidate of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic), Speaker of the National Assembly Ashot Ghulyan attaches importance to the meeting that Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan had with President of Artsakh Bako Sahakyan on December 1 and voices hope that there will be more meetings in this format and will encompass a bigger scope of issues, taking into consideration the fact that there are urgent issues. “Talks over settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are always current so long as the conflict is, based on my strong conviction, far from being resolved,” Ghulyan said. According to him, there is no need to suspect the actions that the incumbent authorities are taking to solve issues of pan-national significance, especially since the issue concerns the future of Artsakh.

The position of Ashot Ghulyan’s political party is based on two major points. Firstly, the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict can only be solved in case of full-fledged participation of the Republic of Artsakh in the negotiations. Secondly, the options and ideas for the proposed resolution must first and foremost be acceptable for the direct party to the conflict, that is, the people of Artsakh.

In regard to Prime Minister Pashinyan’s willingness to support the conduct of fair and transparent elections in Artsakh, Ghulyan said the organizing and conduct of free, fair and transparent elections are first and foremost the duty of the authorities of Artsakh and the political parties running in the elections. “Of course, the support of the government of Armenia is also very important in this regard. You are aware that, due to lack of international recognition, Artsakh faces a problem with the participation of international observers in the elections, and so Armenia can support the elections by inviting and engaging representatives of international organizations that observe elections. All us Armenians need to have an interest in the democratic development of Artsakh. Thus, I hope we will witness the implementation of the commitment of the authorities of Armenia and the political parties of Artsakh to seeing the democratic development of Artsakh in 2020,”Artsakh’s presidential candidate said.