KOCHARIAN SEES INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION OF KARABAKH INDEPENDENCE
By Emil Danielyan
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Feb 19 2007
Armenia expects the ongoing peace talks with Azerbaijan to result
in a peace accord that will allow for international recognition of
Armenian control over Nagorno-Karabakh, President Robert Kocharian
said in a newspaper interview published on Monday.
"It is absurd to speak of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity because
Nagorno-Karabakh won its independence during the collapse of the USSR
through an impeccable legal procedure and has never been part of an
independent Azerbaijan," he told the French daily "Le Figaro." "The
negotiations can only be aimed at fixing a delay for the recognition
of Nagorno-Karabakh’s independence by means of a referendum."
Kocharian was alluding to the underlying principle of international
mediators’ current peace plan on Karabakh. It calls for the holding
of a referendum of self-determination in the disputed territory years
after the liberation of Armenian-occupied lands in Azerbaijan proper.
Armenian officials say Karabakh’s predominantly Armenian population
would be asked to vote for independence, reunification with Armenia
or return under Azerbaijani rule.
The Azerbaijani side maintains, however, that it will never come to
terms with Karabakh’s de facto secession from Soviet Azerbaijan. In
a recent interview with "Le Figaro," President Ilham Aliev said Baku
is only ready to grant the Karabakh Armenians "the highest degree
of autonomy within Azerbaijan." Other Azerbaijani officials have
claimed that the proposed referendum would determine the extent of
such autonomy.
Despite diametrically opposite statements, the conflicting parties
seem to have made considerable progress in the talks mediated by the
American, French and Russian co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. The
group’s U.S. co-chair, Matthew Bryza, told RFE/RL earlier this month
they are "very close" to cutting a framework peace deal this year.
The mediators discussed their next steps with Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanian and among themselves in Paris last week. In a joint statement
issued on Friday, they urged Oskanian and his Azerbaijani counterpart
Elmar Mammadyarov to meet again soon to "overcome the remaining
differences on the basic principles of a future settlement agreement."