Azerbaijan not ready for conflict settlement – Karabakh’s leader
Hayastani Hanrapetutyun, Yerevan
7 May 04
Text of Tsovinar Nazaryan report by Armenian newspaper Hayastani
Hanrapetutyun on 7 May headlined “Azerbaijan will negotiate with
Karabakh”
This is an interview with the president of the Nagornyy Karabakh
Republic [NKR], Arkadiy Gukasyan. He says that Azerbaijan will
negotiate with Karabakh but stability in Armenia is required for that.
[Hayastani Hanrapetutyun correspondent] Do you believe that you will
really sit at a negotiating table one day?
[Arkadiy Gukasyan] You are talking about this issue as if it was a
dream. It is not a new thing for me as I have sit at a negotiating
table with the leadership of Azerbaijan many times. Participation in
the negotiations is not an end in itself. I am sure that it is
impossible to settle the Karabakh issue without the participation of
Nagornyy Karabakh, and the Azerbaijani leadership will undoubtedly
negotiate with the leadership of Karabakh. I am sure that the world
community also thinks so. The format of the negotiations was strictly
outlined in the Budapest summit: Nagornyy Karabakh-Azerbaijan-Armenia.
[Correspondent] How will the problem be settled – by means of the
stage-by-stage or package option?
[Gukasyan] I am sure that all the problems should be settled at a
negotiating table. Today it is impossible to talk about any
option. The most important thing for us is to discuss all the problems
in a constructive atmosphere. I have the following approach: not a
stage-by-stage, but a package settlement is much more fruitful,
because today there is distrust, hatred and military propaganda on the
part of Azerbaijan, and it is impossible to discuss any option in such
an atmosphere. Such a situation should be quietened down, and a more
constructive field for the negotiations should be created.
[Correspondent] What deadline do you predict?
[Gukasyan] I would like to have a concrete answer, bit you understand
that I am not Nostradamus and not everything depends on us.
[Correspondent] Does it need 10 or more years?
[Gukasyan] We have an opportunity to settle the problem in one or two
years. But does the leadership of Azerbaijan want it? In any case, we
should understand that a settlement to the problem, that is, peace is
always a risk as it is impossible to achieve everything at the
negotiating table. And the leaders of Azerbaijan also understand this,
but I think that today they are not ready for this risk, they are not
ready to take responsibility. Maybe they do not have enough political
weight, may be there are other approaches. Anyway, I have a clear
opinion that the new leadership of Azerbaijan is not ready to risk and
settle the problem.
[Correspondent] What is Karabakh’s attitude towards the domestic
political developments in Armenia?
[Gukasyan] Naturally, the domestic political developments in Armenia
are very important for Karabakh and we are interested in stability
there, which will naturally promote the Karabakh issue settlement.
[Correspondent] This is axiomatic, but does not affect the
developments.
[Gukasyan] They cause much anxiety, but I hope everything will be in
order.