Opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosian commended Armenia’s and Nagorno-Karabakh’s leaderships for their response to the escalation of the conflict with Azerbaijan as he wrapped up a visit to Stepanakert on Tuesday.
Ter-Petrosian met with Bako Sahakian, the Karabakh president, on the second and final day of the trip that came shortly after his overtures to the Armenian government made following the April 2 outbreak of heavy fighting around Karabakh.
Ter-Petrosian said he discussed with Sahakian “all issues preoccupying us today.” “You aware of the concerns, determination and confidence of the Armenian and Nagorno-Karabakh authorities’” he told reporters. “I think that the authorities are doing, in a serene and reserved manner, what is required by the existing situation.”
The top leader of the opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK), who served as Armenia’s first president from 1991-1998, did not comment further after he and Sahakian emerged from the main government building in Stepanakert. The two men then strolled around it.
In a statement, Sahakian’s office said they touched upon “a number of issues” relating to the April 2-5 fighting along the Karabakh “line of contact” that marked the worst bloodshed in the conflict zone since 1994. “President Sahakian stressed the importance of unity demonstrated by political forces in those difficult times and their role in addressing challenges facing our people,” it said.
According to Sahakian’s spokesman, Davit Babayan, Ter-Petrosian also met in Stepanakert with Karabakh’s parliament speaker, prime minister and top army generals.
Ter-Petrosian announced plans to travel to Karabakh shortly after unexpectedly meeting with Armenia’s President Serzh Sarkisian on April 9. He urged the Armenian opposition to put aside its difference with the government and strive for a “national consolidation.”