ArmenPress
May 6 2004

CONFLICT MAY BE RESOLVED IN 1-2 YEARS, KARABAGH LEADER FORECASTS

YEREVAN, MAY 6, ARMENPRESS: Nagorno Karabagh leader Arkady
Ghukasian has revived today the recently floated idea that the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Karabagh cannot be resolved unless
Stepanakert joins the talks as a full party. “Sooner or later Azeri
leaders will have to agree to negotiating with Karabagh and I am
confident that the international community shares this very
viewpoint,” Ghukasian said, citing a resolution of the OSCE Budapest
summit which said that the conflicting sides are Azerbaijan, Armenia
and Nagorno Karabagh.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting of Board of Trustees of
Hayastan pan-Armenian Fund, Ghukasian argued that the conflict cannot
be solved through application of the so-called step-by-step option
because of the “distrust, enmity and Azerbaijan’s war rhetoric.”
According to Karabagh leader’s forecasts, “we have enough
resources to resolve the conflict in 1-2 years, but we should also
realize that a resolution or peace contain some risks, which is also
realized by Azerbaijan’s leaders who are not ready today to take the
risk and shoulder the responsibility.”
In a reversal of previous opinion on the effectiveness of the
Minsk Group, which spearheads the Organization for Security and
Co-Operation in Europe’s (OSCE) efforts to find a political solution
to this conflict, Azeri president Ilham Aliyev said earlier this week
that the Group’s activity is apparent, and that “the co-chairmen are
determined to deal with the problem.”