IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE WHO KARABAKH WILL BELONG TO

Lragir.am
18 July 06

The G8 statement on the conflict over Karabakh is an ordinary
statement, announced Vazgen Manukyan, the leader of the National
Democratic Union, July 18. He says that the year 2006 specified in
the statement of G8, during which the great powers call the conflict
parties to reach agreement on the basic principles of settlement,
does not make the statement special. "After all, they are not saying
that if you do not reach agreement in 2006, we will station forces,"
says Vazgen Manukyan.

"For these big states it is not important Karabakh is inside Armenia
or inside Azerbaijan. They are interested that there is not a conflict
which may impact them as well. They want a prosperous life and they do
not want a conflict," says the leader of the NDU. He does not think
that the OSCE Minsk Group statement on placing responsibility on the
conflict parties increased the risk that the war will ignite again.

Aliyev realizes that there will be no signature to mark whom Karabakh
belongs to, and the only way to take it is war. First of all, any war
can be lost, and he has already lost the war for several times, he
knows that even if he is twice or three times stronger, he is not the
winner. Nobody can say I will wage a war and win, says Vazgen Manukyan.

"When the war starts, they are living a prosperous life inside their
clans, and earn billions of dollars. Why should they risk everything
they have, why should they risk the oil pipeline, why should they
risk their relation with the West? Therefore in the nearest future
I do not expect that their threat will be important.

This does not mean that there will not be a war in the future, but
now it is not worthwhile to treat it seriously. We must negotiate
with a cool head and develop our state," says the leader of the NDU.

According to him, it is wrong to think that the statement of co-chairs
untie the hands of conflict parties and give them their approval to
wage a war.

"It is a trick. They do such things during negotiations. During the
talks one of the parties may slam the door then returns or is asked to
return. Negotiations are negotiations, it has its technologies. This
is one of the technologies of talks, which I think is normal. On the
one hand, this can be explained psychologically.

People constantly offer proposals, but since they understand that
there cannot be a compromise with regard to the Karabakh issue,
they are also responsible for those who empowered them to conduct
the talks," says Vazgen Manukyan.