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OPPOSITION LEADER SAYS ARMENIA LOST PARTNERS IN KARABAKH ISSUE
Regnum, Moscow
31 Jan 05
(No dateline as received) After many years of inactivity, the
organizational committee for the defence of Nagornyy Karabakh,
established in 1996, relaunched its operations in Yerevan on 28
January, the leader of the Democratic Party of Armenia and member of
the Justice parliamentary faction, Aram Sarkisyan, told a news
conference at the Azdak discussion club today.
Answering questions from a Regnum news agency correspondent about the
structure and future actions of the organizational committee,
Sarkisyan said that about 30 people from 15 parties and organizations
had taken part in the first session. He said that the organizational
committee would issue a political statement which would call on all
the factions and groups in the parliament to recognize Nagornyy
Karabakh's independence from Azerbaijan. "It is necessary to state
officially that Nagornyy Karabakh has separated from Azerbaijan in
full compliance with international legal norms," he said.
The committee resumed its work because of the recent developments
around the settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, in
particular, the adoption of a PACE (Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe) resolution, statements by the US State Department,
Iranian President Mohammed Khatami and Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan.
"What are Armenian President Robert Kocharyan and Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanyan discussing with representatives of the Azerbaijani
side, if all these key forces have stated in fact that the Nagornyy
Karabakh problem can be resolved only within the framework of
Azerbaijan's territorial integrity?" asked Sarkisyan.
Sarkisyan said that Iran's position earlier was that the handover of
the territories around Nagornyy Karabakh to Azerbaijan was
undesirable. "The Iranian side has understood that Armenia is not
capable of representing its own interests and controlling the
territories, and therefore decided not to spoil its relations with
Baku," he said. At the same time, Sarkisyan noted that in case of a
war in Iran, the USA will certainly use these territories. "If we take
no contingency measures, Kosovo's fate could await Nagornyy Karabakh,"
he said.
Sarkisyan, who held the post as presidential adviser for foreign
issues, said that a new term had been introduced regarding the
Karabakh conflict. The PACE resolution used the phrase such as
"separatist forces are still in control of the Nagornyy Karabakh
region", and that "it will be difficult to avoid" this term. In the
opinion of the Armenian Democrat, the current tendencies show that the
major players - the USA, Europe and Russia - see Nagornyy Karabakh
solely as part of Azerbaijan.
"The reason for Armenia's diplomatic failure is that Mr Kocharyan and
Mr Oskanyan have been viewing the new Azerbaijani president (Ilham
Aliyev) as a good-for-nothing playboy. But, in fact, within a short
period of time, Ilham Aliyev has prepared and implemented a clear-cut
programme of establishing an entire coalition of reliable
partners. Aliyev launched a mechanism for converting Azerbaijan's cry
over one million refugees and 20 per cent of territories into a
political line approved by the international community," Aram
Sarkisyan said.
Asked about Armenia's partners, the Democratic Party leader said that
Armenia had none on the Karabakh issue. "We have been isolated,
Armenia has not yet shown a clear-cut policy to the world," Sarkisyan
said, noting that even Russia would not support it on this issue since
Yerevan had failed to put forward a specific position.
"We always blame Russia for its lack of support, but we, ourselves,
are not working effectively. Russia is a pragmatic country that
secures its own interests. It would have made an excellent partner, if
it did not understand that the incumbent (Armenian) authorities are
corrupt and think solely about their profit," Sarkisyan said.
(passage omitted: background details of Karabakh settlement)
Regnum, Moscow
31 Jan 05
(No dateline as received) After many years of inactivity, the
organizational committee for the defence of Nagornyy Karabakh,
established in 1996, relaunched its operations in Yerevan on 28
January, the leader of the Democratic Party of Armenia and member of
the Justice parliamentary faction, Aram Sarkisyan, told a news
conference at the Azdak discussion club today.
Answering questions from a Regnum news agency correspondent about the
structure and future actions of the organizational committee,
Sarkisyan said that about 30 people from 15 parties and organizations
had taken part in the first session. He said that the organizational
committee would issue a political statement which would call on all
the factions and groups in the parliament to recognize Nagornyy
Karabakh's independence from Azerbaijan. "It is necessary to state
officially that Nagornyy Karabakh has separated from Azerbaijan in
full compliance with international legal norms," he said.
The committee resumed its work because of the recent developments
around the settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, in
particular, the adoption of a PACE (Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe) resolution, statements by the US State Department,
Iranian President Mohammed Khatami and Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan.
"What are Armenian President Robert Kocharyan and Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanyan discussing with representatives of the Azerbaijani
side, if all these key forces have stated in fact that the Nagornyy
Karabakh problem can be resolved only within the framework of
Azerbaijan's territorial integrity?" asked Sarkisyan.
Sarkisyan said that Iran's position earlier was that the handover of
the territories around Nagornyy Karabakh to Azerbaijan was
undesirable. "The Iranian side has understood that Armenia is not
capable of representing its own interests and controlling the
territories, and therefore decided not to spoil its relations with
Baku," he said. At the same time, Sarkisyan noted that in case of a
war in Iran, the USA will certainly use these territories. "If we take
no contingency measures, Kosovo's fate could await Nagornyy Karabakh,"
he said.
Sarkisyan, who held the post as presidential adviser for foreign
issues, said that a new term had been introduced regarding the
Karabakh conflict. The PACE resolution used the phrase such as
"separatist forces are still in control of the Nagornyy Karabakh
region", and that "it will be difficult to avoid" this term. In the
opinion of the Armenian Democrat, the current tendencies show that the
major players - the USA, Europe and Russia - see Nagornyy Karabakh
solely as part of Azerbaijan.
"The reason for Armenia's diplomatic failure is that Mr Kocharyan and
Mr Oskanyan have been viewing the new Azerbaijani president (Ilham
Aliyev) as a good-for-nothing playboy. But, in fact, within a short
period of time, Ilham Aliyev has prepared and implemented a clear-cut
programme of establishing an entire coalition of reliable
partners. Aliyev launched a mechanism for converting Azerbaijan's cry
over one million refugees and 20 per cent of territories into a
political line approved by the international community," Aram
Sarkisyan said.
Asked about Armenia's partners, the Democratic Party leader said that
Armenia had none on the Karabakh issue. "We have been isolated,
Armenia has not yet shown a clear-cut policy to the world," Sarkisyan
said, noting that even Russia would not support it on this issue since
Yerevan had failed to put forward a specific position.
"We always blame Russia for its lack of support, but we, ourselves,
are not working effectively. Russia is a pragmatic country that
secures its own interests. It would have made an excellent partner, if
it did not understand that the incumbent (Armenian) authorities are
corrupt and think solely about their profit," Sarkisyan said.
(passage omitted: background details of Karabakh settlement)