AZERBAIJAN/ARMENIA: KARABAKH LEADERS SEEK NEW ROLE IN TALKS
by Haroutiun Khachatrian

Transitions of Line, Czech Republic
July 3 2007

With talks on a resolution for the 19-year Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
on the skids once again, the breakaway region’s de facto authorities
are increasingly pushing for a new negotiating format, one that allows
them to directly participate in the process.

"The current format of negotiations, in which only Armenia and
Azerbaijan are involved, is unrealistic and destructive," Arkady
Ghukasian, the de facto president of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic, told reporters on 7 June.

While the statement is not the first time the Karabakh leader has
called for direct talks with Azerbaijan, its timing underlines the
extent to which regional frustrations are growing with the peace
talks overseen by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe’s Minsk Group. Following a longstanding pattern, the latest
summit between Armenian President Robert Kocharian and Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev ended on 10 June without results.

The failure of the two sides to hit on anything that can be termed
a "compromise" has prompted this fresh tact, Karabakh presidential
advisor Arman Melikian noted in an interview with EurasiaNet.

Particular concern in Armenia and Karabakh has been raised by recent
remarks by Aliyev that Azerbaijan would use "all means to pressure
Armenia" into the return of Nagorno-Karabakh. The declaration is
widely seen as a sign that Baku has abandoned an agreed resolution
framework reportedly reached last year.

DIFFERENCES WITH ARMENIA

Armenia, on which Karabakh relies for economic aid and military
assistance, has not yet publicly responded to Ghukasian’s assertion
that Karabakh should represent its own interests. In the past, however,
Kocharian, himself a former leader of Nagorno-Karabakh, has effectively
played both sides of the issue – stating that the current negotiations
format falls short of adequate, yet asserting that Armenia, as a
recognized state, is better able to negotiate a settlement.

The extent to which Ghukasian’s remarks are meant as a criticism of
Armenia’s representation of Nagorno-Karabakh’s interests has not been
publicly broached. Karabakh officials usually shy away from openly
criticizing Armenia, and have stated simply that they have "informed"
Yerevan of their concerns.

Yet Melikian acknowledged that some "differences" do exist between
Armenian and Karabakhi points of view.

The first issue is one of territory, according to Melikian. The
current talks define the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh as based on
the boundaries for the original Soviet-era autonomous region, then
part of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. Karabakh, however,
wants its territory to be defined as also including two additional
Armenian-populated regions to the north of the original Soviet-era
region – Shahumian and Getashen. Both districts were separated from
the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region in the early 1930s, and remain
under Azerbaijani control.

The second issue is one of compensation for losses suffered by ethnic
Armenians who fled Azerbaijan in the late 1980s in response to the
Karabakh conflict. The separatist government believes the current
negotiation process has largely ignored the question, Melikian said.

Echoing opinions already voiced by some Armenian parties, such as the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Karabakh leaders want compensation
to include the resettlement of ethnic Armenians in the seven occupied
territories that form a buffer zone between Karabakh and Azerbaijan.

Without consideration of these points, the separatist Karabakh
government’s acceptance of any finalized agreement is moot, Melikian
stressed.

>>From 1994 to 1997, Karabakh representatives took part in the
peace talks until Azerbaijan demanded their exclusion. Minsk Group
representatives have routinely affirmed that the current format is
sustainable, and requires no major overhaul. Azerbaijan refuses all
direct contact with the region’s separatist leadership.

FRUITLESS MEETING

Meanwhile, within Armenia itself, the fruitless 10 June meeting between
Aliyev and Kocharian has triggered a new wave of support for including
Karabakh in the negotiations. At the same time, opposition has deepened
to the possible withdrawal of Armenian forces from the seven occupied
Azerbaijani territories that surround the breakaway region.

At a 20 June press conference in Yerevan, however, Foreign Minister
Vartan Oskanian stated that the possibility of changing the Minsk Group
process is not under discussion, PanArmenian.Net reported. The question
of Nagorno-Karabakh participating in peace talks with Azerbaijan "has
always been… [on] the agenda," Oskanian said, but that participation
does "not mean [a] change or enlargement of [the] negotiation format."