HEAD OF PRESSURE GROUP HITS AT ARMENIAN LEADER’S KARABAKH POLICY
A1+ web site in Russian
Dec 1 2006
"Why Kocharyan suddenly left the CIS summit and quickly returned from
Minsk," a former commander of the voluntary detachment of the Nagornyy
Karabakh republic [NKR], Arkadiy Karapetyan, asks and himself answers
to his question. "Everyone leaves a trace when doing something. Traces
of what Kocharyan is doing prove that the time has come when he is
to sign a document on surrendering the liberated territories."
Karapetyan could not say what made Kocharyan return so soon. However
he said: "We can assume that there was more pressure on Kocharyan than
expected. He should have pursued a policy that would not allow this
situation to come about. Today the authorities do what the situation
dictates. The fact that the government still does not have a strategic
doctrine also confirms this".
Unlike some political figures, Karapetyan does not rule out that
Kocharyan may sign a document on surrendering the territories in the
near future. "I am sure that he can sign [this document], because I
know Kocharyan well," Karapetyan said.
"At the moment, he is worried not about when he will have to sign
such a document, but about the domestic political situation. Even if
Kocharyan musters enough strength not to sign this document or if he
resigns, it will be already difficult to maintain even Armenia’s place
on the map, let alone the liberated territories," Karapetyan said.
Karapetyan is surprised by the defence minister’s remarks that 40
per cent of servicemen are illiterate. "Are not the authorities
facilitating this illiteracy? [Armenian Defence Minister] Serzh
Sarkisyan says that this is the task of the government. Who stood at
the helm of Armenia for the past eight years? Even if the authorities
resign right now, we will need at least 10 years in order to revive
the country," Karapetyan said.