Armenian politician downbeat on US mediator’s visit

ARMENIAN POLITICIAN DOWNBEAT ON US MEDIATOR’S VISIT

Arminfo
1 Aug 06

Yerevan, 1 August: "The visit of the US co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk
Group, Matthew Bryza, showed that the leadership of the Nagornyy
Karabakh republic [NKR] firmly insists that Nagornyy Karabakh should
become the main party to the negotiating process," the leader of the
Democratic Party of Armenia and chairman of the steering committee of
the Union for the Defence of the NKR, Aram Sarkisyan, told an Arminfo
correspondent today.

He expressed confidence that "as soon as Nagornyy Karabakh becomes
a party to the negotiations, many provisions in the draft frame
agreement proposed by the OSCE Minsk Group will be changed".

On the whole, Bryza’s visit did not answer most of the
important questions regarding the negotiating process, Sarkisyan
said. "Naturally, this was a factfinding visit by Bryza, however, it
is clear that his statements remain in force. It seems to me that great
attention was paid to one of the co-chairmen and his remarks were taken
with a shiver," he said. "We consider that there should be the same
balanced attitude to the co-chairmen. I absolutely do not understand
the statements by the Armenian foreign and defence ministers that the
main principles of the settlement proposed by the OSCE Minsk Group
co-chairs
are acceptable to Armenia," Sarkisyan said.

[Passage omitted: Sarkisyan speaks about the possible deployment of
peacekeepers in Nagornyy Karabakh]

Emil Lazarian

“I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS