PROBLEM OF ARMENIAN REFUGEES REVEALED ASYMMETRY IN TALKS

PanARMENIAN.Net
09.08.2006 17:12 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The speeding up of the settlement process
revealed the weak points of the negotiation process, NKR President’s
Aide for Foreign Policy Arman Melikian said in an interview with
PanARMENIAN.Net.

"The format of the talks doesn’t correspond to the configuration of the
conflict. The problem of the Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan is one
of the factors. This problem was raised by the refugees themselves,
who unified to protect their rights and appealed to the Armenian and
Azerbaijani President as well as to the co-chair states," he remarked.

"According to the plan proposed by the mediators, Azerbaijan
receives some territories while the Azeri refugees return to their
homes. However one should not forget that unlike the Armenian
population of Baku, Kirovabad and Sumgait these people were not
subjected to violence and ethnic cleansings. Moreover many of them
joined the Azeri troops and then retreated with the Azeri army. As
you know at that time the military units in Azerbaijan were formed
according to a territorial principle. Now the Co-chairs bypass the
problem of the Armenian refugees. I would like to remind that the
survey showed that Armenian refugees will not return to their former
residence under the jurisdiction of the Azerbaijani Republic. "Refugees
and International Law" civic society network proposes to include the
issue of 500 thousand Armenian refugees in the agenda of the talks. As
far as I know the members of the organization met with representatives
of the Embassy of one of the co-chair states," Arman Melikian said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress