Karabakh should participate in Armenian-Azeri talks – Karabakh leader
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
18 Jul 05
[Correspondent Artur Grigoryan] The Karabakh conflict is older and
more complicated than other conflicts in the post-Soviet area. Work
on the settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict is not stable
like other political processes. Today we are already talking about
some possible joint document. We will discuss the current stage of
the settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict with the president
of the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic, Arkadiy Gukasyan.
[Corespondent] Mr President, thank you very much for accepting my
invitation. My first question – is it true that the negotiating
process has entered another active stage?
[Gukasyan] Perhaps, we can make such a conclusion, if we take into
account that Azerbaijan’s position is more constructive today than in
the past. Azerbaijan has expressed its readiness to discuss issues
that have always been of interest to Karabakh. For example, if in
the past Azerbaijan refused to discuss the status of Karabakh, today
this issue is on the agenda. This means that Azerbaijan has entered
a constructive stage.
[Correspondent] What does it mean? Is it connected with Azerbaijan’s
domestic or foreign policy?
[Gukasyan] Probably, all existing points of view are related to
this issue [as heard], taking into account that Azerbaijan will hold
elections in November and a lot depends on these elections. Perhaps,
this is one of the reasons. Second, international organizations have
been working with Azerbaijan for a long time and I think that they
have assured Azerbaijan that they cannot resolve this conflict if
Azerbaijan takes such a position. I believe that it is wrong to discuss
all issues only with Armenia and to deny the Karabakh factor, and I
am sure that the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group also think so. I
think that this is also the result of the OSCE mediators’ work with
the leadership of Azerbaijan. On the other hand, there are developments
that do not depend on Azerbaijan, Armenia and Nagornyy Karabakh. Today
the international community is interested in solving the conflict in
a peaceful way and I think Azerbaijan cannot ignore this.
[Correspondent] Mr President, how do you define the criteria of the
current stage of the negotiations? There are meetings between the
Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers, and on the other hand,
the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group visit Stepanakert all the
time. Do they all yield good results?
[Gukasyan] Karabakh is not taking an active part in the negotiating
process, it is only participating in meetings with the co-chairmen
and there is an opinion that Karabakh has been sidelined from the
negotiating process. I am confident that it is difficult to solve the
conflict without Nagornyy Karabakh’s involvement. Today Azerbaijan
refuses to discuss this issue with Karabakh itself. I can say that
Azerbaijan is still not ready to settle the conflict because any
discussion with Armenia without Nagornyy Karabakh’s participation is
just a propaganda trick. It is the same approach as Azerbaijan says on
the one hand that Armenia is an aggressor and has occupied Azerbaijan
territories and on the other, discusses this and other issues with
Armenia. I am sure that Karabakh is not sidelined from the process.
I have repeatedly noted in fun that if we are interested in the
end result, it does not matter if Karabakh participates or not in
the negotiating processes. Let Spain or Portugal participate in
the negotiations, I do not see any problem here. As long as the
independence of Nagornyy Karabakh is recognized and we get what we
want, Armenia’s participation in the talks is not a problem for us.
But I am confident that the stage, where Karabakh will participate
in the talks, is approaching.
[Passage omitted: Repeating ideas about the OSCE mediators’ meetings
with the Azerbaijani leadership]