THE DANGEROUS GAMES OF A NEW "TURKMENBASHI"
Haik Aramyan

Lragir, Armenia
Oct 30 2006

NKR President Arkady Ghukasyan’s statement that he is unlikely to run
a third term running not to ruin the reputation of NKR as a democratic
country, first appeared to most people as a diplomatic farce. People
who know the NKR president know that Ghukasyan started to think about
his career long ago, and the idea of prolonging his presidency has
been carried along with the incessant efforts to find an alternative
to his personality.

Arkady Ghukasyan’s personal concern can be understood. In the
current political situation it is highly difficult for any figure in
Karabakh to find a worthy place in the government of Armenia. It is
not accidental that so far these efforts have been in the trajectory
of relations with the Armenian Diaspora. They even say that the deep
conflict between Ghukasyan and Naira Melkumyan, his brother-in-arms
not long ago, now the chief executive officer of Armenia Foundation,
stems from the aspiration of both figures to the post of the chief
executive officer of the foundation.

One way or another, unfortunately for the people of Karabakh, the
question of the alternative to Arkady Ghukasyan remained up in the
air. And it is not accidental that in a very short period the NKR
government got down to the rapid adoption of the NKR Constitution.

This hastiness to appoint the day to the referendum on the
Constitution, the formal way of writing the text and the debates in
the parliament gave rise to anxiety and caused to be watchful. The
circumstance became clear that Ghukasyan has lost the hope of finding
an alternative occupation for himself and has decided to go all the
way and remain at the post of president at any price.

Realizing how complicated his plan is, considering its danger prom
the aspect of the NKR national interest, Ghukasyan decided to put
responsibility for the consequences of his unthoughtful action on the
society, and even the people of NKR. After declaring that he would
not run a third term, Ghukasyan launched the option of the "demand
of the working class" when "the masses beg Ghukasyan to remain at the
post of president and not to leave them in such a difficult time". At
the same time, they have also thought about the ideological basis of
this "request" by circulating without excess modesty the thesis of
"the foreign political irreplaceability of Ghukasyan for Karabakh".

This option is originally vicious considering that in the years of
Arkady Ghukasyan’s office Nagorno Karabakh appeared overboard of the
talks over settlement. Moreover, any leader who make head or tail of
international diplomacy should have realized that "turkmenbashism"
is a monstrous idea for a young and still unrecognized state.

Apparently, either Arkady Ghukasyan is unable to grasp the ABC of
diplomacy or by the end of his presidency he takes a step which is
known only to him, and he cannot state it publicly.

In this case, it is interesting to know the opinion of President
Kocharyan on the actions of his "superdiplomat" subject in Nagorno
Karabakh, when he watches him make the law comply with his own
interest. Or maybe Kocharyan personally "imposed" the right for
arbitrariness on Ghukasyan. Even though the accusations of "usurping
the talks" against the Armenian president are justified, they overlook
one circumstance: over these years Robert Kocharyan has unintentionally
"concealed" President Ghukasyan’s diplomatic nude. If someone else
was the president of NKR, Armenia and the international community
might have had a different approach to the participation of NKR in the
talks. If he has concealed over all those years, he may conceal now,
especially if there is a serious reason for it. Why, some people may
ask. For instance, in order to create a precedent of decision making,
when the presidents of Armenia and Karabakh deny responsibility for the
fate of Karabakh and make antinational decisions "under the pressure
of the people of Nagorno Karabakh."

Today they are threatening and misleading the public, ruining the
international reputation of NKR, tomorrow they will make people accept
the "defensive decision" on the settlement. And the presidents will
say later that we didn’t want, you compelled us.