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The Liberated Territories Can Never Be An Object For Mutual Concessi

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  • The Liberated Territories Can Never Be An Object For Mutual Concessi

    THE LIBERATED TERRITORIES CAN NEVER BE AN OBJECT FOR MUTUAL CONCESSIONS - ARARAT DAVTYAN

    Hetq
    December 01, 2008

    A Hetq Interview with Lernik Hovhannisyan, Secretary of the ARF
    Artsakh Youth Union

    Mr. Hovhannisyan, recently, at the initiative of your organization,
    youth groups in Artsakh participated in "round table" discussion
    of the Karabakh issue. What resulted was a condemnation of those
    statements that "call into question the justice and victory achieved
    by the blood of thousands of Armenia's sons". What was meant by this?

    The young people of Artsakh cannot remain indifferent to what is being
    said in the press and by certain political leaders on the issue. For
    us, those views, that call for the exchange of Armenian lands for
    other Armenian lands are unacceptable; for example Shahumyan for
    Aghdam. Especially when we are talking about returning the liberated
    territories.

    printable version

    email to friend These are historic Armenian lands as witnessed by the
    city of Tigranakert and the recent discovery of medieval Armenian
    stone crosses in the Aghdam region. There are other sources that
    confirm that the liberated territories are Armenian. For instance,
    there are 17th century Persian sources that speak about the presence
    of the Armenian Meliks. As a result, we condemn all approaches that
    assume any change to the territories as set forth in the Constitution
    of the RMK (Republic of Mountainous Karabakh).

    Thankfully, the government of the RMK shares this opinion. We are
    certain, just as the RMK government is certain, that any attempt to
    settle the Artsakh conflict without the participation of the RMK is
    doomed to failure.

    In other words, Artsakh must have an equal place at the negotiations
    table and the RMK Foreign Ministry is actively taking steps to
    achieve such an objective. Proof of this is the fact that the OSCE
    Minsk Group Co-chairs, during their last visit, held closed meetings
    at the RMK National Assembly.

    Can we infer from your statement that the people of Artsakh will not
    accept any agreement that includes a return of various lands?

    As an ARF representative let me say that our party has made its
    position clear on many occasions. The Artsakh Central Committee, and
    the Supreme Council of Armenian and the ARF Bureau, have stated that
    there can be no discussion of the return of any lands. This view has
    also been expressed by the RMK authorities.

    But the Armenian side has always noted that the Artsakh conflict
    must be resolved via mutual concessions. If this is the case what
    concessions will we grant?

    We have already made concessions. First, we agreed to the 1994
    ceasefire.

    Second. The Republic of Armenia has yet to recognize the independence
    of Artsakh. The liberated territories can never become the object of
    concessions. We have nothing to return. Furthe rmore, a portion of
    the RMK, the region of Getashen, Shahumyan and parts of Martuni and
    Martakert, remain occupied by Azerbaijan. The issue of their return
    must be put on the negotiations table as well.

    It seems that on an official level we are not making such claims. All
    the while Azerbaijan comes forth with much stronger demands and
    our authorities counter this by stating that the conflict must be
    resolved through concessions on the two sides. In the context of
    what you stated, doesn't it appear that the current negotiations that
    have been going on for years are redundant? Negotiations are always
    useful but they must continue without any reference to the return
    of any lands. All of us are aware that if such a thing happens the
    threat of warfare grows.

    What about the international security guarantees that are being
    discussed?

    In any event, the final guarantor of security is our army and this
    was proved back in March and just recently with the attempted Azeri
    military incursion. We can agree to the presence of any international
    force on RMK lands. Yes there will be such pressures brought to bear
    but we must resist them and build our statehood in unison.
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