Armenian premier denies possible deal on Karabakh and power crisis rumours

Aykakan Zhamanak, Yerevan
14 Oct 04

Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan has denied in a newspaper
interview any plans to return three or four regions to Azerbaijan in
return for concessions on Karabakh. He also denied that parliament
was paralysed because the ruling coalition had not held any sessions
for several months; on this score he said “if there are problems,
they can be settled even in a telephone conversation”. The following
in an excerpt from of Naira Zograbyan’s report in Armenian newspaper
Aykakan Zhamanak on 14 October headlined “There is no crisis within
the coalition”. Subheadings have been inserted editorially:

Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan answered journalists’
questions yesterday [13 October].

Karabakh

[Aykakan Zhamanak, correspondent] There have been rumours of certain
arrangements in connection with the Karabakh issue, and especially of
the return of three occupied regions bordering Iran. As the Armenian
prime minister, how aware are you of the recent developments around
the Karabakh issue?

[Andranik Markaryan] As you know the negotiations are being conducted
in the format of co-chairmen and two presidents, and the presidents
met in Astana recently. No serious proposals have yet been submitted
to the Armenian party for consideration. All these rumours about the
return of three or four regions are simply suppositions; there are no
such documents and none of the parties involved in the negotiations
officially made such a proposal.

As for the position of the Republican Party of Armenia, we have
repeatedly said that if we have to return something, we certainly need
to know why we gave it away. The price of the return will be the four
preconditions we have talked about many times: Karabakh must never
be within Azerbaijan; the security of Armenia and Karabakh must be
ensured; as a result of the negotiations Armenia must not yield even
an inch of its land; and Armenia and Karabakh should have a common
land border.

[Passage omitted: Republican Party opposes stage-by-stage settlement
in Karabakh]

No confrontation between president and defence minister

[Correspondent] Rumours are circulating about possible personnel
changes in the government. In particular they say that there is a
confrontation between the president and [Defence Minister] Serzh
Sarkisyan which will result in the defence minister’s dismissal. If
this happens, do you not think that the entire government will be
dismissed as a result?

[Markaryan] I do not want to make any conclusions on the basis of
an analysis made by a newspaper. I am sure there is no confrontation
between the president and Serzh Sarkisyan. As for personnel changes,
I always give the following answer: you will know when it happens.

No paralysis in parliament

[Correspondent] Mr Prime Minister, parliament is almost paralysed, the
[ruling] coalition has not held sittings for several months. Everything
testifies to a power crisis. Do you not think that the existing
situation is a result of illegal and rigged elections?

[Markaryan] If the National Assembly has exhausted its agenda in
one or two sittings, I would not say this is the result of bad work
by the parliament. Another problem is that the deputies should be
present at parliamentary sittings and this problem was discussed in
the Republican Party. But this disease is characteristic not only
of the current parliament but also of all the previous ones. So I do
not think that parliament is paralysed.

As for the fact that the coalition does not hold sittings, not
every meeting of the coalition member-parties should be called
a sitting. If there are problems, they can be settled even in a
telephone conversation. So it does not follow from your observations
that there is a power crisis. Of course, if the opposition took part in
the work of parliament, such an impression would not be created. But
even if they do not, it does not mean that there is a crisis within
the ruling powers.

[Passage omitted: Armenia rejects Russian proposal to deliver goods
via Ossetia for security reasons]