Armenian opposition angry at new developments over Karabakh
Arminfo
7 Feb 05
Yerevan, 7 February: A new stage of the settlement of the Karabakh conflict
has started and it is unfavourable to Armenia, the political council of the
Republic [Anrapetutyun] Party has said in a statement.
According to the statement, the purpose of this stage is to speed up a
solution to the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict through the involvement of international
organizations and structures. The UNO, PACE have already got involved in the
process and the US State Department has made public its official position on
the Karabakh problem.
In the meantime, the inviolability of Azerbaijan’s borders is being
highlighted and the idea that Nagornyy Karabakh has no right to self-determination is
being voiced. The current reality is connected with the alleged “ethnic
cleansing” by Armenians.
The authorities of the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic [NKR] are being branded as
“criminalized and “separatist” and Armenia is being accused of occupying A
zerbaijani territories. In the light of the above, the failure of the Armenian
foreign policy and diplomacy is clearly visible. The approaches of the Armenian
side are not properly understood and defended by international structures.
Armenia’s pro-government camp has been assuring us that all of the above cannot
have serious consequences and the OSCE Minsk Group is a body dealing with the
settlement of the conflict, which is wide of the mark. The OSCE Minsk Group’s
factfinding mission shows that it is already implementing the UN instruction,
the statement said.
The statement said that as a result of a short-sighted and irresponsible
policy of the authorities, influential international organizations, one after
another, are shaping the political and legal basis for the resolution of the
conflict. They are putting pressure on unmanageable parties to the conflict and by
and large interfering in the process.
The people of Armenia may have to deal with either a dishonourable settlement
agreement or war. The current authorities, who want to maintain their own
existence at any cost and under false pretences, are unable to amend the
situation.
Once again they are trying to deceive the public by hiding their failures
behind patriotic jingo. Only a democratic Armenia and the authorities whom
society trusts completely can remain an ally of the Nagornyy Karabakh people in
their just struggle for their rights and a fair peace. “Our society should clearly
realize that true patriotism at present does not mean to bear a grudge
against the international community but wage a struggle within the country for
genuine democracy,” the statement by the political council of the Anrapetutyun
Party said.