Meetings in Canada: Stepanakert and Cambridge Could become Sister Cities

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the de-facto Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR) Georgy Petrosyan, who is on a seven-day visit to Canada on the invitation of the Hay Dat (Armenian Cause) Committee, held a number of meetings with representatives of the political and party circles of the country, reads a press release issued by the Nagorno-Karabakh foreign affairs office.

From Feb. 18–20, Petrosyan made a speech at meetings in Toronto and Montreal, dedicated to the 23rd anniversary of the Nagorno-Karabakh “national liberation” struggle. In his speech, Head of the NKR Foreign Office noted the necessity to unite the efforts of Armenia, NKR and the Diaspora for the effective resolution of the Karabakh issue.

In Toronto, Petrosyan had meetings with the representatives of Armenian political parties Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), Armenian Democratic Liberal Party (Ramkavar Azatakan) and Social Democrat Hunchukian Party, as well as with the members of the Hay Dat Committee. During the meeting, Petrosyan dwelt on the recent developments in the negotiation process in settling the conflict.

NKR Foreign Minister also met with member of the Conservative Party of Canada and Chairman of the Canada-Armenia Parliamentary Friendship Group Harold Albrecht, former leader of the Liberal Party Stéphane Dion, member of the Conservative Party Paul Calandra and Head of the Bloc Québécois Party Gilles Duceppe.

During his meetings with them, Petrosyan touched upon the current situation in the Caucasian region in the light of the recent political developments on the international arena. The head of the NKR Foreign Office also dwelt on the fact that recently Azerbaijan had unprecedentedly increased its military potential, and noted that it may have a negative influence on the present political situation and destabilize the whole region. He also underlined that lately Azerbaijan had intensified anti-Armenian propaganda.

During the meeting with Mayor of Cambridge (Southern Ontario) Doug Craig, a question of declaring Stepanakert and Cambridge sister cities was raised.

Representatives of the Hay Dat Committee of Canada accompanied the NKR Foreign Minister during the meetings.

On Feb. 24, Georgy Petrosyan will leave Canada for the US.

Note, the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan after a bloody war in the 1990s and is populated mainly by ethnic Armenians. Today it exists as a de-facto independent state under an uneasy ceasefire, and OSCE-brokered efforts to resolve its status have so far been unsuccessful.