EUROPEAN TOP OFFICIAL URGES ARMENIANS, AZERIS TO COMPROMISE OVER KARABAKH
Mediamax news agency, Yerevan
25 Apr 06
Both Armenians and Azerbaijanis will benefit from the resolution of
the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, Council of Europe Secretary-General
Terry Davis has said. In an interview with Armenian Mediamax news
agency, he said that the parties’ “biggest motive” for compromise
should be the welfare of the people in Armenia and Azerbaijan. He
added that the Council of Europe would send a fact-finding mission
to the region to verify reports about destroyed historical monuments.
The following is the text of interview of Council of Europe
Secretary-General Terry Davis to Armenian Mediamax news agency;
subheadings as published:
The biggest motive for compromise should be the welfare of the people
of Armenia and Azerbaijan
[Correspondent] Are you following the Nagornyy Karabakh peace talks?
[Terry Davis] Of course, I take close interest in what is happening
over the problem of Nagornyy Karabakh. Whenever I meet the foreign
ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan I discuss it with them. I regret
that it is taking such a long time to settle this issue because I
am sure that it is in the interests of the people in Armenia and
Azerbaijan and especially people in Nagornyy Karabakh for this issue
to be settled.
[Correspondent] Do you think regional cooperation in the South Caucasus
is possible before the resolution of existing conflicts?
[Davis] Well, unfortunately there are many conflicts in the South
Caucasus and I regret all of them – the conflicts in Abkhazia, South
Ossetia and Nagornyy Karabakh. My view is that cooperation is always
possible, but there is a limit to how much cooperation you may have
when you have these very serious conflicts.
[Correspondent] Do you think the Council of Europe could play a more
active role in the Nagornyy Karabakh peace process?
[Davis] Of course, the OSCE Minsk Group plays a leading role. I truly
wish luck to Russian, US and French co-chairmen with this difficult
work that they are trying to do. It is in the interest not only of
the people of Armenia and Azerbaijan, but in the interest of the
people everywhere in the world. But the OSCE is leading on it, not
the Council of Europe.
And, what I am always trying to do in both Armenia and Azerbaijan is
to persuade people that there are men and women in the other country
who also suffer, who have very similar feelings. And anything that can
get this across, the people in both Armenia and Azerbaijan, I think is
bound to help to the resolution of this conflict. And that is what I am
interested to encourage. But in the end of the day the responsibility
to resolve the conflict is with the Armenians and the Azerbaijanis.
[Correspondent] Do you think is it still possible to resolve the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict this year?
[Davis] I do not know. I think you will have to ask the foreign
ministers or perhaps, even more important, the presidents of Armenia
and Azerbaijan. They are the people who have the responsibility talking
to each other. How optimistic or pessimistic they are, I do not know.
[Correspondent] Can the process of European integration secure a
stronger motive for compromise for Armenia and Azerbaijan?
[Davis] To my mind, the biggest motive for compromise should be the
welfare of the people of Armenia and Azerbaijan.
No big problems between the Council of Europe and Armenia
[Correspondent] Do you see any big problems in relations between
Armenia and the Council of Europe?
[Davis] Well, I do not see any problems. Sometimes, I am surprised that
we are constantly searching for problems. Of course, there are some
things in Armenia that we would like to see changed. We certainly
encourage Armenia to do all sorts of things to catch up with the
rest of Europe. From time to time we have to say to our friends in
Armenia that we are still waiting for you to do this or that which
you promised to do. That is intended to be helpful. So, I do not see
any big problems between the Council of Europe and Armenia.
I think Armenia is making a contribution to European discussions on
the whole, but I must tell you frankly – I believe Armenia could make
a bigger contribution, and the reason Armenia does not make as bigger
contributions as I would like is because you do have this problem
with Nagornyy Karabakh.
And as soon as you get that settled, it is going to affect the
contribution made by Armenia and Azerbaijan to the rest of Europe. I
think you could make a very valuable contribution – from particular
point of view, the Armenian point of view – based on the history,
traditions and culture of the Armenian people.
Fact finding mission
[Correspondent] What steps may the Council of Europe take regarding the
destruction of Armenian monuments in Azerbaijani territory of Naxcivan?
[Davis] We are trying to organize a fact-finding mission to visit not
only the places you have mentioned but other places too, where there
are allegations about memorials or monuments or religious things
having been damaged. It does not matter whether these are Armenian
or Azerbaijani. As civilized people, we should be concerned about
anybody’s memorials or monuments being damaged. So, the important thing
is to get people to work together on this. The fact finding mission,
we hope, will have Armenians and Azerbaijanis working together to
find a better way to improve general cooperation for the people to
realize that we all have to respect each other’s believes, each other’s
culture and to protect other peoples’ religious believes and culture.
Let’s go to the heart of the problem, not doing things around it
[Correspondent] The closed border between Armenia and Turkey remains
one of the most complicated problems in the region. Don’t you think
the Council of Europe could play a role in improving Turkish-Armenian
relations?
[Davis] This is really a very important issue. But it is peripheral,
it is only edge. The important thing is to deal with the central
problem, and we all know what the central problem is. It is the future
of Nagornyy Karabakh.
Upcoming elections
[Correspondent] Will the Council of Europe observe parliamentary
elections in Armenia next year?
[Davis] I will expect the Council of Europe to be invited to observe
the elections in Armenia. The Council of Europe has been invited and
has observed recent elections in Armenia. And I shall be surprised
if the Council of Europe is not invited next year.
What do I expect from them? What I expect of better elections [than]
that have been held before. I expect real progress to be made in
making sure that these elections are free and fair elections.
Everyone has opportunity to be a candidate and not to be harassed,
to have no suppression, to have freedom of expression, freedom to
explain one’s point of view, to try to persuade other people to vote
for your point of view. In other words, what I expect is a better
democracy in Armenia.