Armenian opposition leader says president invited to USA over Karabakh

Arminfo
9 Mar 06

Yerevan, 9 March: “An invitation to [Armenian President] Robert
Kocharyan to visit the USA by the director of the US Millennium
Challenge Corporation is offensive for Armenia,” the leader of the
Democratic Party of Armenia, Aram Sarkisyan, said at the National
Press Club today.

Sarkisyan said that the director of the US Millennium Challenge
Corporation should hold meetings with the Armenian minister of labour
and social security. Sarkisyan described the invitation to the
Armenian president to visit the USA as mysterious in the light of US
State Secretary Condoleezza Rice’s statement saying that the US State
Department is very disappointed with the results of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani talks at Rambouillet.

He believes that the USA could use the Armenian president’s visit to
step up pressure on the Yerevan government in order to soften its
position at the negotiating table. “Increased pressure on Kocharyan by
international organizations can result in his resignation,” the
opposition leader said.

Touching on increasing anti-Armenian propaganda in the Azerbaijani
media and belligerent statements by Azerbaijani leaders, Sarkisyan
said that the Baku government could take military steps only after
receiving permission from the geopolitical players – the USA, Europe
and Russia.