AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK UP: WHO DO WE HELP BY THAT?
By Karine Mangassarian

Yerkir/arm
March 10, 2006

If you follow the statements made by some Armenian politicians after
President Kocharian expressed his recent position on the issue of
Nagorno Karabagh you might get an impression that they have never
heard the position expressed by the Azeri leadership in the media.

Meanwhile, the Azeri side usually refers to the military settlement of
the conflict and increasing funding allocated to the army by millions
of dollars.

We are sure that this approach also underlies Azerbaijan’s position in
the negotiation process. Meanwhile, when negotiations do not yield any
results some politicians in Armenia start claiming that our country
again lost in the negotiations.

We are sure that such statements made by the former leadership of the
country or by the present opposition forces derive not from their
concern about the settlement of the Karabagh conflict but by their
desire to take every opportunity to criticize the government and the
president at the same time warning the population that another was
is possible.

Why didn’t they ever respond to Azerbaijan’s similar statements
in the past? Why is this sudden activation today? What is this –
a tactical move to help the other side? Don’t they understand that
such statements reach the Azeri side as well and give them another
playing card to use in the negotiation process?

An ‘excellent’ example of such a statement was the opinion expressed
yesterday by the leader of the Armenian Democratic Party Aram Sargsian
saying that the Armenian president lost at a certain stage of the
negotiation process and this is why he is making such militaristic
statements. A question arises – what is then the logic underlying
the militaristic statements Azerbaijan has been making for a long
time? If the Azeri side is losing in the negotiation process who is
then in a more favorable position?

Why are some political forces in Armenia criticizing the Armenian
president’ s response to Azerbaijan’s militaristic statements saying
that the president has chosen the wrong strategy? Answering this
question leader of National Revival Party Albert Bazeyan said,
“I think we should not make any statements about withdrawing from
the negotiation process. Let Azerbaijan do this.”

Bazeyan says Azerbaijan does not accept any compromises and the state
which declares its decision to withdraw from the negotiation process
first will have to deal with the pressure from the international
community. “Meanwhile, Armenia has to exert diplomatic flexibility
and resume the talks,” Bazeyan noted.

Head of ARF’s parliamentary faction Levon Mkrtchian recently expressed
an opinion that the opposition forces in Karabagh, especially in
the Karabagh parliament, have adopted a more balanced approach on
this issue.

The joint statement adopted by all forces included in the Karabagh
parliament is a proof of this point. However, the same cannot be said
about the opposition forces outside the parliament – their approach
is very different.

As to the statement made by the president, Mkrtchian believes it was a
commensurate response to Azerbaijan’s militaristic stance. We should
not forget that Armenia never resorted to such measures during the
negotiation process and this was a goodwill act aimed at ensuring
the continuation of talks.

“No one can scare us with perspectives of war because we have defended
our homeland. The side that starts a war now will be trying to conquer
the territory of another nation,” Mkrtchian said.

Head of Orinats Yerkir Party’s parliamentary faction Mher Shahgeldian
also believes the president’s response followed the recent statements
made by Azerbaijan. As vice speaker of the National Assembly Vahan
Hovhannissian stated in the press, we should by no means neglect the
statements made by the Azeri side.

Hovhannissian believes these statements show that Baku is not even
thinking about any concessions and it is important to counter
Azerbaijan’s political propaganda with a commensurate political
response while at the same time continuing to strengthen our army.