VARTAN OSKANIAN: WE HAVE REACHED A STAGE WHEN WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO SHOW NECESSARY POLITICAL WILL

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 18 2006

YEREVAN, APRIL 18, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. “We have reached a
stage when we should be able to show the necessary political will:
without it we see no prospect for the peaceful settlement of the
Nagorno Karabakh problem,” RA Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian
declared in his April 18 interview to journalists. According to the
Minister, the bellicose statements voiced by Azerbaijan that find
their manifestations on the contact-line just cause anxiety.

“It is very important that the European Parliament, the European
structures, other mediator countries set this issue more seriously
before Azeris for them to understand that there is no alternative to
the peaceful negotiations,” he mentioned. The Foreign Minister informed
that OSCE Minsk Group American Co-chair Steven Mann will pay a visit
to the reigon on April 20. Asked why the Co-chairmen do not visit
the region together, he answered that there is no special problem
here, their schedules just do not coincide. In any case, according
to Vartan Oskanian, the Co-chairs themselves say that their separate
visits should not be commented upon in another way. He mentioned that
the Co-chairs may pay a joint visit in early May. Vartan Oskanian
informed that no separate meeting between him and Azerbaijani Foreign
Minister Elmar Mammadiarov is envisaged at the April 21 meeting of CIS
Foreign Ministers. For the present, there is no agreement about the
next meeting between the two countries’ Presidents, either. “There
is no decision yet but I can confirm the fact that the Co-chairs
separately raise this issue. It is difficult to say, whether in
late May or in early July, but I can confirm that they have already
started to think about it,” the Foreign Minister said. According to
him, the Presidents’ meeting will be justified if the separate and
joint visits of Co-chairs to the region are efficient. “If there
is no progress after Rambouillet, it is senseless to continue the
meetings without carrying out an intermediate work. First we should
wait for the Co-chairs’ visits and only after them we can see,
whether it is worth organizing a meeting between the Presidents,”
Oskanian mentioned. Touching upon the issue of the society’s being
unaware of the principles of settlement, Vartan Oskanian said that
it is the principle of territorial integrity that has dominated
by now and only recently “the issue was placed on the plane of the
territorial integrity and self-determination”. “First to fix the right
of self-determination and only then to move forward has become the
most important task for us. What “to move forward” will mean, what
manifestations it will have, this, of course, will be seen in the
future. I think only after it we can notify our people. But today the
main task is to get this recognition, I think it will be easy after
this,” the Foreign Minister declared. As he affirmed, today there is
noticeably more comprehension in this issue than ever. According to
the Foreign Minister, it is still too early to speak about returning
territories: “Today the issue of principle for us is that the issue
of return of refugees is bilateral and this is not only Azerbaijan’s
problem. So, no matter what solution this issue is given in the
future I think it should be adequate for all sides”. Asked whether he
considers possible that the optimism that the year 2006 can be pivotal
for the Nagorno Karabakh settlement finally will not be justified,
the Minister was not able to give a definite answer. According to him,
much will depend on the events of the next month, on the approaches
to be manifested before the next meeting between the Presidents. “Only
after this we can orient ourselves more exactly”.