Armenian pressure group condemns president’s Council of Europe speech

A1+ web site
26 Jun 04

25 June: The Defence of the Liberated Territories public initiative
has sharply condemned President Robert Kocharyan’s speech at the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe [PACE] today.

“Recently, the Armenian president personally spoke for the first time
from an international rostrum about Armenia’s disgraceful readiness to
cede the territories. Answering a question from the head of the
Azerbaijani delegation in PACE, he confessed that he had agreed to
cede the liberated territories in Key West. The territories have not
been ceded yet only because of Azerbaijan’s firm position.

“Some representatives of the opposition bypassed this issue and
hurried to approve of the Karabakh-related section of Kocharyan’s
speech.

“We sharply condemn every phrase which hints at the possible return of
the liberated territories to Azerbaijan, partly or in full. We state
that neither the president nor other figures who make such statements
have the right to speak on behalf of the people of Armenia and ignore
its opinion. The return of even an inch of our liberated territories,
as well as a speech containing statements which contribute to this,
are a betrayal.

“It becomes obvious that a positive solution to the Artsakh [Nagornyy
Karabakh] war requires a change of the political elite.

“All the liberated territories are an inseparable part of our
motherland and any attempts to thrust another solution upon the
Armenian people are doomed to failure,” the statement said.