Armenian minister urges mutual compromises on Karabakh problem

Noyan Tapan news agency
30 Mar 05

Yerevan, 30 March: The resolution of the Karabakh problem is possible
only by peaceful means and on the basis of mutual compromises, the
secretary of the National Security Council under the Armenian
president and defence minister, Serzh Sarkisyan, said on 30 March.

Listing the compromises Armenia could make, the minister said that
Armenia regards as a fundamental compromise the fact that it has still
not recognized Karabakh’s independence, although Karabakh has been
established legally and has existed as an independent democratic state
for many years. “This is a demonstration of good will within the OSCE
Minsk Group with the aim of supporting the peace process,” the
minister said.

Recalling the provision of the 25 January resolution of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe [PACE] that a region
can break away from a state and become independent only on the basis
of the will of the people living on that territory, Sarkisyan said
that as a second concession, Armenia might agree to conduct a second
referendum in the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic [NKR], which will be
organized by the OSCE under the aegis of the UN.

The third concession is that the Armenian side can start negotiations
regarding the security zone around Karabakh, the minister said. “I am
not in favour of returning the territories that make up the security
zone without taking into account the security of the NKR population,”
he said.

He said that certain concessions can be made at the negotiating table
provided that Azerbaijan clearly guarantees that it will not resume
the war, which will be confirmed by guarantees from influential
international organizations and states.

[Passage omitted: Reported details of the speech]