Lragir, Armenia
Dec 1 2006

ARMENIA RECOGNIZES AZERBAIJAN’S TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY

The minister of defense of Armenia Serge Sargsyan told reporters on
December 1 he considers the statement that NATO recognizes the
territorial integrity of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan as normal.
`Has Armenia ever announced that it does not recognize the
territorial integrity of any country? We recognize the territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan too. But we also recognize the territorial
integrity of Nagorno Karabakh because the Republic of Azerbaijan and
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic were established simultaneously, on the
basis of the laws of the Soviet Union, and Karabakh cannot be
considered part of the integrity of Azerbaijan,’ Serge Sargsyan
stated.

He also mentioned that for Armenia the recognition of the
independence of Karabakh by Azerbaijan is more important than the
international recognition of Nagorno Karabakh. `For us, the
recognition of the independence of Nagorno Karabakh is important of
all. Even if 50 countries of the world recognize the independence of
Karabakh, it is only a means, even a means of pressure, if you like
it, to make Azerbaijan recognize the independence of Karabakh. The
only and complete way of eliminating the threat of war is the
recognition of the independence of Karabakh by Azerbaijan,’ Serge
Sargsyan says.

In answer to the request to comment on the meeting of Robert
Kocharyan and Ilham Aliyev in Minsk Serge Sargsyan advised to change
the addressee. `I think it would be right to ask this question to
Kocharyan. I did not take part in the meeting. Nevertheless, both
Kocharyan and Aliyev and the foreign ministers of both countries
think it was a useful meeting,’ Serge Sargsyan says. He emphasizes
that the words useful or positive do not mean that the problem has
been solved. Serge Sargsyan thinks the resolution is rather
complicated, and in this sense there will be considerable difficulty
regarding not only the past meeting but also the future meetings.
`That is why we said the settlement of this problem will be painful
for everyone, that is why we said compromise. That is why we said if
it were easy, it would have been solved long ago,’ says the defense
minister of Armenia.

As to the settlement of the issue in 2007 and the expectations of the
co-chairs to reach agreement on the `basic principles’, the minister
of defense does not assume responsibility to say that these
expectations are realistic because he is not Nostradamus, and because
he does not know what the `basic principles’ are. `What are the basic
principles? It is not rewarding to set a definite timing regarding
this problem. It is a difficult process. It would be different if you
asked `do you expect?’ or `do you think?’. I am not Nostradamus to
say it will be in 2007 or not. I wish it, I wish it strongly,’ the
defense minister conveyed his wish to the public.