PEACE AGREEMENT IS OUT OF QUESTION

Pan Armenian News

04.05.2005, “PanARMENIAN Network” analytical department

Yalim Eral’s information concerning the document to be signed for the
regulation of Karabakh conflict is far from the truth.

The sensational announcement of the former OSCE ambassador in Turkey
Yalim Eral did not bring to a scandal, because it was immediately
denied. It is worth reminding that speaking on “CNN – Turkey” TV
channel, the Turkish diplomat stated that on May 10, Azerbaijan
and Armenia would sign an agreement on the settlement of Karabakh
conflict. According Eral, the agreement was to be based on the
stage-by-stage approach.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Neither Yerevan nor Baku found Eral’s information
reliable, since his version looked too unreal. Both the co-chairmen
of the Mink group and the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan
have more than once said that the negotiations have not reached a
proper stage to sign any document. By the way, the Turkish diplomat
did not mention who exactly were going to sign the document on the
10th of May. If he meant the presidents who will be in Moscow, then
they will have the chance to see each other on the 9th and not on
the 10th of May. Anyway, the latest announcement of Ilham Aliev makes
believe that he does not intend to meet with Robert Kocharyan during
the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of victory. Moreover, it is
doubtful whether the presidents will meet in Warsaw, where on May 15
they will take part in the summit of the leaders of EC member-states.

If the former OSCE ambassador in Turkey meant the possibility of
signing a document by the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia,
then that version is also absurd. The thing is that the co-chairmen
of the Minsk group have not yet informed Vardan Oskanyan about the
content of the meeting with Elmar Mamedyarov. So even if we suppose
that the Frankfurt meeting has really brought some progress, no one
has agreed on any details with the political leadership of Armenia. In
this case who is going to sign the document if neither the presidents
nor the foreign presidents of the two countries are aware of that?

There is still another strange thing in the announcement of the
Turkish diplomat. According to the former ambassador, the document
is going to be based on the principle of stage-by-stage settlement
of the conflict. It should be reminded that Yerevan and Stepanakert
have twice rejected that way of conflict settlement. Nevertheless,
the mediators still continue suggesting various settlement schemes,
which again suppose several stages of mutual concessions from the
two parties. However, Yalim Eral has another version. He clarifies
that according to the agreement reached, the Armenian party will let
Azerbaijan have five from the seven controlled security zones, but
he does not mention what will Azerbaijan do. This comes to prove once
again that the information of Eral is far from the truth. The latest
announcements of the defense and foreign ministers of Armenia confirm
that Yerevan excludes the possibility of any unilateral concessions.

It should be only be added that the official sources of Armenia and
Azerbaijan expressed rare unanimity in denying the information of the
Turkish diplomat. It is a pity that the opinions of Yerevan and Baku
coincide only in such kind of questions.

Artyom Yerkanyan

04.05.2005, “PanARMENIAN Network” analytical department