Uruguay Calls for the Recognition of Nagorno Karabakh

Foreign Minister of Uruguay Luis Almagro

According to Prensa Armenia, the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Uruguay on January 4 called for the international recognition of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR) and the right of the people of Karabakh to self-determination. This announcement came after a meeting with representatives of the Armenian National Committee of Uruguay and the International Armenian National Committee.

Foreign Affairs Minister of Uruguay Luis Almagro met with the Armenian representatives to discuss the situation in the South Caucasus and condemned the ceasefire violations by Azerbaijan. Minister Almagro underscored the urgency for a peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict “taking particular account of the right to self-determination of the Armenian people and the principle of territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia under its borders as an independent country between May 1918 and December 1920.”

The representatives of ANC Uruguay said that Uruguay's Foreign Ministry had begun consultations to look into the possibility of recognition starting in 2011.  "Since then there have been meetings of the Chancellor and senior officials of the Uruguayan government with the Foreign Ministers of the Republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan and with the respective ambassadors in Uruguay,” said the representative.

A statement by ANC Uruguay read: "On the legislative front, dozens of legislators had the opportunity to meet the President of the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh during his visit to the Uruguayan Parliament in December 2011. In turn, a parliamentary delegation led by President of the Chamber of representatives Jorge Orrico and legislators of all parliamentary parties visited the Republic in November 2012, where they met with officials of the executive and legislative branches, as well as with civil society of Nagorno Karabakh. The subject has also been present on the visits by legislators and political leaders of all parties to Azerbaijan from 2011 to date. More recently, the issue was addressed in a joint declaration signed by Presidents Jose Mujica and Serzh Sargsyan in July 2014, on the occasion of the official visit of the president of the Republic of Armenia to Uruguay. Both presidents stressed the need for a peaceful solution to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and supported the mediation of the Minsk Group of the OSCE.”

In an official statement, the Foreign Ministry of Uruguay said that it will take the work of the OSCE Minsk Group as a main reference and will await its conclusions to the settlement process to make its final decision on the recognition of NKR.