US official’s Karabakh remarks not directed against Armenia – aide

Iravunk, Yerevan
21 Jan 05

Excerpt from Piruza Meliksetyan’s report by Armenian newspaper Iravunk
on 21 January headlined “‘It is clear to the president that nobody has
any privilege,’ Garnik Isagulyan is sure”. Subheadings as published:

An interview with the Armenian president’s advisor on national
security issues, Garnik Isagulyan.

“The US Department of State comment is important”

[Iravunk correspondent] Armenian political circles have not accepted
the latest statement by US Assistant State Secretary Elizabeth
Jones. Many public organizations expressed their protest. Some
officials ignored the statement and some described it as the final
failure of the government’s diplomacy.

[Garnik Isagulyan] Let us specify that Elizabeth Jones’s statement was
made in the run-up to the Russian-American high-level meeting. Before
making any statement of the sort, every state tries to make maximum
use of its resources to settle relations with the negotiating party
and put forward its viewpoint in the negotiating process. From this
point of view, Jones’s statement was made in the context of
Russian-American relations. The US Department of State’s comment on
Jones’s statement means that US policy regarding the Karabakh issue
has not changed and remains the same. And this means that Jones’s
statement is not directed against Armenia or the settlement of the
Karabakh issue.

[Correspondent] I am sorry, but your calm and silence are not clear.
Elizabeth Jones is not just one of a million people, she is an
assistant to the US State Secretary and represents her president and
state.

[Isagulyan] I would like to note once again that she made this
statement in the context of the Russian-American high-level meeting.

[Correspondent] Is that it?

[Isagulyan] Let me give you an example. As you remember, a Putin-Bush
meeting was to take place in 2001. The Key West agreement, which also
caused a big stir, was signed before that meeting. But in fact, it was
signed before the Russian-American high-level meeting. After that, no
American top official spoke about Key West any more. I am sure that
after the forthcoming negotiations, nobody will speak about Elizabeth
Jones’s statement any more. That will remain just a statement made by
somebody.

[Correspondent] In fact, you deny the fact that by describing the NKR
as an unstable, corrupt and criminal country, the Washington
administration gave [Armenian President] Robert Kocharyan, who has
always said that he represents the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic [NKR] in
the talks, a slap in the face by means of Jones who is leaving the US
Department of State.

[Isagulyan] I do not think you should comment on the issue in this
way. When the Department of State, ignoring Jones’s statement, says
that their policy has not changed and that the Karabakh issue is a
special problem, when the two states are trying to name names before
their talks and mention Dniester, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, it would
have been wrong if they had not mentioned Karabakh.

But there was no specific mention of the NKR authorities. One should
take into account that the USA is well aware of the situation in the
NKR. It is aware of the democratic processes in the NKR. It is aware
that the NKR authorities are not corrupt or criminal and that the NKR
is not a transit route for drug trafficking. And the fact that the USA
allocates money to the NKR means that it is well-aware of the
situation there. Naturally, there will be various comments on this. It
is very good that public and political organizations respond to such
statements very quickly. This proves once again that our society is
sensitive about the Karabakh issue and does not accept any unjust
statements irrespective of their context. This also means that the
position the Armenian authorities have been taking, especially
concerning the Karabakh issue, is correct.

“We have to wait for the processes to enter a specific phase”

[Correspondent] The statements of the Washington administration
regarding Iran have recently become harsher and do not rule out a
deterioration in US-Iran relations. In which situation will Armenia
find itself in the event of a US-Iran conflict? Is Armenia protected?
Does it have a concept of security?

[Isagulyan] Any process developing in our region is important to us
and we pay attention to it. As for the US-Iran relations, we have to
wait for the processes to enter a specific phase. I do not think that
this is the first time that Bush has touched on Iran. So there is no
need to conclude that certain actions will start tomorrow. If there
are other developments, I am sure that Armenia will find its bearings
and take relevant steps.

[Passage omitted: An Armenian peacekeeping contingent is in Iraq;
Details of Kocharyan’s recent meeting with tax and customs officials]