OSKANIAN PRESENTS DETAILS OF HIS BRUSSELS MEETINGS
By Harry Tamrazian in Brussels
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Nov 16 2006
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian spoke of ‘some little progress’ made
at the Armenian-Azeri ministerial talks in Brussels earlier this week,
but said the "moderate expectations" from the meeting with his Azeri
counterpart Elmar Mamedyarov were not fully met.
"A general outline of agreement around the proposals and thoughts
voiced during the Moscow meeting and discussed in Paris began to
emerge, though I cannot say that this is some complete agreement,"
Oskanian told RFE/RL after the meeting on Monday. The minister added
that "negotiations should be continued."
Oskanian found it reassuring that after listening to the sides the OSCE
Minsk Group cochairmen suggested that the two countries’ presidents
should meet on the sidelines of the CIS summit due later this month.
"They are likely to have seen some positive moments in our discussions
and based on that made a decision to invite the presidents to such
a meeting," Oskanian said.
"Of course, the presidents will decide whether to accept the invitation
or not after listening to their ministers. And for this very reason the
cochairmen will pay a visit to the region next week," Oskanian said,
adding that the international negotiators are expected in Yerevan on
November 21.
The minister reiterated that the expression of the Karabakh people’s
will remains a key principle for Armenia at the talks.
"This is one of the key issues, and, of course, it is essential to the
Armenian side," Oskanian said. "Whether it is done through a referendum
or in some other way, the right of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to
self-determination must be stated in the document that should serve
as a means for resolution."
To the question whether he felt any change in Azerbaijan’s tough
position during the meeting, the minister said: "I can say only that
the atmosphere was quite positive. It was a constructive meeting,
some serious discussion went on, some thoughts were expressed."
"I cannot say that we made concrete arrangements, but the bottomline
of those discussions is that positions have in some way moved closer
together," Oskanian said. "We want to consider it to be a flexible
approach, a compromise, I don’t want to give qualifications. I can
only state that some general outline of agreement appeared to have
emerged during that meeting."
Assessing Russia’s role in the Karabakh peace process, the Armenian
minister praised this country’s constructive position. "Russia’s
approaches have always been consonant with those of the other
cochairmen," he said.
Evaluating the Armenia Action Plan as part of the EU new neighborhood
policy, the minister emphasized that "with the adoption of this
document Armenia has raised its relations with the European Union to
a qualitatively new level."
"It holds out serious prospects before us to move towards closer
integration in that structure and deepen our relationship," Oskanian
said. "This program has a five-year duration, it has a solid financial
basis, it well serves its purpose, and, indeed, Armenia can benefit
from it immensely if it implements it properly."
"I’ve said on many occasions that if we manage to take full advantage
of the opportunities offered by this program, in five years Armenia
can be a politically and economically different state," the minister
underscored. "And we, indeed, must be consistent in its realization."
Speaking about the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections
in Armenia, Oskanian said: "One of the key questions raised during
the meeting of the EU-Armenia Cooperation Council was our future
elections. Our future elections have been high on the agenda of any
bilateral meeting I’ve had in the past few months. It has been so
much talked about that we, indeed, have no room for mistake this
time around."
The minister urged all political forces and the public to work
together to hold qualitatively better elections, as otherwise, he says,
‘Armenia has much to lose’.
"Armenia’s further democratic development largely depends on
the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections," Oskanian
emphasized.
While in Brussels, Oskanian also participated in the closed meeting
of the foreign ministers of the three South Caucasus states with EU
representatives. He said the whole spectrum of issues in the region,
including the continuing standoff between Russia and Georgia, was
discussed by the parties.
According to Oskanian, Armenia has friendly relations with both Russia
and Georgia and wants to preserve its impartial attitude. At the same
time, the Armenian minister is concerned over more tensions emerging
in the relations between these two countries, which, according to him,
is against Armenia’s political and economic interests.
"We want to see good relations between Russia and Georgia in the
interest of the whole region," Oskanian stressed. He denied that
Russia has exerted any pressure on Armenia to cooperate with it
against Georgia.
"Such thoughts may have been voiced within public circles in Russia
that expected Armenia to cooperate on that matter. But I assure you
that no such position was officially expressed to Armenia. Armenia
has not taken sides in this standoff and will continue to appear from
neutral positions," the Armenian minister concluded.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
