UN General Assembly
2002

any evolving society — to make some changes in order to reflect more accurately our commitment to becoming a society that respects the rule of law and the rights of individuals. We are equally proud that the Armenians of Nagorny-Karabakh, in the midst of their ongoing struggle for self-determination, have also completed another presidential election cycle. Indeed, the people of Nagorny-Karabakh deserve to be commended for establishing the rule of law despite continuing adverse social and economic conditions. As the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Co-Chairmen of its Minsk Group continue to work with Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorny-Karabakh towards a settlement that will wisely — i.e. with an eye to the realities on the ground — determine Nagorny-Karabakh's final status, it is self-evident that only a democratically elected leadership that enjoys a popular mandate will be able to participate actively and legitimately in the final negotiations that affect the status of its own people. With that in mind, in 1992, at the Helsinki Meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Conference on Security