Armenian leader against disunity with Karabakh

Armenian leader against disunity with Karabakh

Arminfo
11 Apr 05

YEREVAN

“We will all win if we really consider Karabakh to be an integral part
of Armenia,” Armenian President Robert Kocharyan today told a meeting
with students and teachers of Yerevan State University’s economics
department in reply to questions about Armenian citizens’ negative
attitude towards the Karabakh Armenians and especially towards
officials of Karabakh origin, and about the Karabakh Armenians’ bad
attitude towards servicemen from Armenia.

Answering the first part of the question, Kocharyan said he had the
impression that the problem was getting softer.

“As for the attitude of the Karabakh Armenians towards servicemen from
Armenia, there is no such problem in Karabakh at all,” the president
said. He added that even some anecdotes have emerged on this issue
recently, which shows that the problem is getting softer.

“As regards our officials of Karabakh origin, [Defence Minister] Serzh
Sarkisyan is half Karabakh and half Zangezur Armenian. Apart from the
president, Karabakh Armenians are not particularly represented in
government structures,” he said.

Kocharyan said one should not forget about the existence of the
Karabakh problem, adding that he considered himself to be an Armenian
citizen to the same extent.

“I have never separated myself from Armenia. And I was the author of
the 1 April 1989 decision on unification [with Armenia],” Kocharyan
said.

As for the issue of attitudes to people from “other territories”, this
issue exists in other countries as well, he said.