MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
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PRESS AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
Government House # 2, Republic Square
Yerevan 0010, Republic of Armenia
Telephone: +37410. 544041 ext 202
Fax: +37410. 562543
Email: press@mfa.am

INFORM ATION FOR JOURNALISTS

14-09-2006

Vladimir Karapetian, Acting Head of Press and Information Department,
Responds to ‘Armenpress’ News Agency

Question: How does Armenia assess yesterday’s initiative by GUAM, and the
vote that followed, to place protracted conflicts on the agenda of the UN
General Assembly?

Answer: Armenia accepts and respects the right of each country to present a
question or an agenda item at the UN. Although this particular item has
reached the General Assembly Agenda according to UN procedures, however the
fact that the UN General Committee rejected this initiative and that the
item passed into the General Assembly with a mere 16 in favor, 15 against,
clearly indicates the mood of the international community.

The initiative has been presented by GUAM, of which Azerbaijan is a part.
The fact that Azerbaijan has presented such an initiative in such a forum is
evidence again that Azerbaijan is backing down from the right of
self-determination identified in the last version of the negotiating
document that the Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group have put on the table,
as well as from discussions surrounding the right of Nagorno Karabakh to
determine its status through a referendum.

On the other hand, if Azerbaijan’s purpose is to delay and postpone the
settlement process within the OSCE framework with the intention of later
transferring that process to other forums, that is categorically
unacceptable for Armenia. In that case, Azerbaijan must sit around the
negotiating table with Nagorno Karabakh.