ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Dec 1 2006
ARMENIAN FORMER FOREIGN MINISTER: KARABAKH PEACE PROCESS DEVELOPS
UNDER AZERBAIJAN’S SCENARIO
Former Foreign Minister of Armenia Alexander Arzumanyan is extremely
pessimistic about the result of the Karabakh peace process,
considering that it develops under Azerbaijan’s scenario.
Today, at the "Urbat" discussion club, A.Arzumanyan said that no
negotiations have been held between the sides of the conflict since
1998, i.e. since Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s administration left the
political arena. Only consultation and meetings are held by the OSCE
Minsk Group cochairmen who have already decided everything and the
heads of Armenia and Azerbaijan are only specifying the details of
settlement of the problem. A.Arzumanyan also specified the details:
Armenia is to hand over 7 regions to Azerbaijan. These regions are
under the Karabakh armed forces’ control, and they will immediately
be settled with Azeri refugees. The narrow Lachin corridor (40 km
wide) is to link Armenia and Nagorno- Karabakh, and the corridor is
to be controlled by some third forces. The issue of
Nagorno-Karabakh’s status is to be determinaed at some referendum.
Azeri President Ilham Aliyev was right to say that there are no
crisis and deadlock and everything develops constructively, i.e. the
way, the Azeri side wanted, he noted.
A. Arzumanyan considers that it is the fault of present Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan’s administration which is only concerned
over the matter of its re-election. At the same time, he didn’t deny
the critics of the administration he was in, noting that under Levon
Ter-Petrosyan many of those in power also thought only about their
re-election.