KHOSROV HAROUTIUNIAN CONSIDERS THAT 2006 TO BE YEAR OF KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT

Noyan Tapan
Mar 20 2006

YEREVAN, MARCH 20, NOYAN TAPAN. The Karabakh problem will be solved
by the third President of the Third Republic (Robert Kocharian is
the second President of the Third Republic: “NT”) who will be from
“lower part, people.” David Hakobian, the Chairman of the Marxist Party
of Armenia expressed such an opinion at the March 17 debate at the
“Hayeli” club. In this way he disproved the optimism of his opponent,
Khosrov Haroutiunian, the Chairman of the Christian-Democratic Union
of Armenia, on the issue that the year of 2006 must be the year of
the problem settlement what, according to the CDUA Chairman, doesn’t
at all mean that Armenia must go to compromises under military threats.

According to Khosrov Haroutiunian, during the whole period of
the Karabakh conflict settlement, so beneficial conditions for
the settlement as there are today have never been created: the
international community understands that not to settle the conflict
means to danger one’s own interests, and that one may not settle
this conflict without taking into account the possible usage of the
right to free self-determination of Artsakh. He doesn’t consider
accidental that U.S. Assistant Secretary Daniel Fried and OSCE Minsk
Group American Co-Chairman Steven Mann first visited Azerbaijan:
today the international community has something to say to Azerbaijan,
the ball is in Azerbaijan’s field.

Kh.Haroutiunian considers that results of the Armenian and
Azerbaijani Presidents’ meeting in Rambouillet, and more correctly,
the absence of those weren’t unexpected. He reminded particularly the
RA President’s formulation: “poor expectations.” This, according to
the speaker, wasn’t accidental as immediately before the Rambouillet,
the Azerbaijani side presented its uncompromising position concerning
the Nagorno Karabakh problem, and possibilities of settling the problem
in military way were already spoken about before the Rambouillet.

Khosrov Haroutiunian is far of the opinion that the Rambouillet makes
war developments more probable: the Rambouillet only facted that one
of the sides isn’t yet ready to make decisions in the most serious
negotiation process.

According to him, the Azerbaijani side’s warlike statements,
militarist hysteria aren’t a challenge addressed to Armenia, those are
addressed to the international community. The Azerbaijani political
administration just attmepts to use the situation to put pressure on
the international community and form agreements reached during the
Rambouillet-Prague negotiations in its faviour. David Hakobian in his
turn expressed a viewpoint that the Artsakh problem has already reached
the status that all the variants of the so-called mutual compromises
in the future diplomatic processes have already exhausted themselves:
“Everything or nothing” there is no alternative, and the Rambouillet
proved this again. The issue may not be the subject of a negotiation
process any more, the moment of populating and re-populating historic
Artsakh and adopting a new military doctrine has already come.” In
his opinion, right from the start the Armenian diplomatic tactics is
a defeatist, yeilding, so-called “beggar’s” diplomacy. “Today we have
already come with a victorious sword, and we must be the dectating
part,” the leader of the Marxist Party stated.