Armenian Public Support for Karabakh Compromise ‘Pointless Now’

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
July 14 2006

By Anna Saghabalian

The Armenian government will not to seek domestic popular support
for a compromise solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict favored by
international mediators until it is accepted by Azerbaijan, Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanian indicated on Friday.

In their recent statements that disclosed the essence of the proposed
peace deal, the French, Russian and U.S. co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk
Group urged the presidents of Armenia to display the necessary
"political will" and prepare their publics for mutual painful
concessions on Karabakh.

"We think the parties would be well-served at this point by allowing
their publics to engage in a robust discussion of the many viewpoints
on those issues," read their statement issued on June 22. "We are
confident that neither society wants renewed conflict, and we urge
the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to work with their publics and
to work with each other to formulate an agreement on core principles
that both find acceptable."

But according to Oskanian, initiating a public debate in Armenia
will be pointless unless Azerbaijan accepts the Minsk Group plan as
a basis for further negotiations. "I am not making and will not make
any attempts to convince anyone, and especially our people, that the
provisions of that document must be accepted, because the Azerbaijani
side has yet to accept it," he told reporters.

Official Yerevan has said that it finds the framework peace accord,
which calls for a referendum of self-determination in Karabakh, largely
acceptable to the Armenian side. The Azerbaijani leadership appears
to be less supportive of the proposed formula, with President Ilham
Aliev repeatedly stating that Baku will never agree to Karabakh’s
independence or reunification with Armenia.