NO PROGRESS RECORDED IN KOCHARIAN-ALIYEV NEGOTIATIONS ON ACCOUNT OF PREVIOUS STATEMENTS MADE BY ALIYEV
Noyan Tapan
Jun 14 2007
YEREVAN, JUNE 14, NOYAN TAPAN. No progress or change for the better
was achieved during the negotiations on the Karabakh issue between
the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan on account of the statements
made by the President of Azerbaijan before the meeting. This was
mentioned by Vartan Oskanian, the RA Minister of Foreign Affairs,
in his interview to the program Urvagits (Outline) of the TV company
"Kentron". According to the Minister, Azerbaijan is periodically making
statements regarding the possibility of restarting the war, though the
Karabakh issue can not be solved through military action and Azerbaijan
understands that. Vartan Oskanian denied Ilham Aliyev’s statements
about returning of all the liberated territories to Azerbaijan, as
well as holding a referendum in the whole territory of Azerbaijan
for deciding Nagorno Karabakh’s status, saying that those statements
do not correspond at all to reality. The Minister of Foreign Affairs
underlined once again that the Armenian side is not ready to conduct
negotiations on those questions until the issue of Nagorno Karabakh’s
status is clarified. Vartan Oskanian believes that the three-page
document put on the table of negotiations is the result of two years of
negotiations and contains all the principles of the problem’s solution.
Though agreement was achieved between the sides on most of the
principles in terms of volume, a number of important issues have not
been agreed as yet.
In addition to this, Azerbaijan is currently renouncing the
agreements made in previous years. Summarizing the content of the
document, V. Oskanian mentioned its three main principles: the issue
of Karabakh’s status should be settled through a referendum and
before holding it, Nagorno Karabakh should be given an intermediate
status, the connection between Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh should be
provided,and security should be guaranteed. The Minister of Foreign
Affairs made assertions that there have been changes for the better
concerning all these principles in the negotiation process.
Vardan Oskanian is sure that the strain of the relations between
Russia and the USA can not lead to their breaking-off. He mentioned
that the possibility of returning to the cold war is out of the
question, therefore, Armenia will not have to choose between the two
superpowers and will continue its complementarian policy. According
to the Foreign Minister, the settlement of the Karabakh conflict is
in the interest of the two superpowers, but in difference to the USA,
Russia does not want to speed up the negotiation process.
Touching upon the proposal of the President of Russia concerning the
joint exploitation of the Gabala Radio station in Azerbaijan together
with the USA, Vartan Oskanian expressed conviction that in physical
terms it can not be a danger for Armenia. He mentioned that the
station will be used as radar and the allocation of missile/rockets
in Azerbaijan is out of the question.
The Minister did not exclude the negative influence on Armenia in
political terms, saying that the Armenian side is currently discussing
the issue. As for Azerbaijan, it can not be unequivocally said that the
entrance of the USA and Russia will strengthen the positions of those
countries in the issue of the Karabakh conflict settlement. V. Oskanian
believes that Azerbaijan can become a playing card in the hands of
Russia and the USA, besides, Azerbaijan’s relations with Iran will
get worse. The Minister is of the opinion that the issue was discussed
with the participants of the Saint Petersburg meeting and he declared
that if such a thing was suggested to Armenia, he as a prime minister
would advise the president of the country to refuse that suggestion.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress