ARMENIA: KARABAKH TALKS’ FAILURE LEADS TO TOUGHER CIVIL SOCIETY STANCE

EurasiaNet, NY
July 9 2007

Despite the recent goodwill visit by Azerbaijani intellectuals
and diplomats, some Armenian civil society activists are taking an
increasingly hard line on the 19-year dispute with Azerbaijan over
the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

A statement issued by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF),
a party that is a member of the governing coalition, underscored
the changing mood. It cautioned against "giving away any territory,"
and demanded an immediate policy of settling the regions surrounding
Karabakh currently under Armenian control. [For additional information
see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Although the ARF is widely acknowledged to be among Armenia’s most
nationalist political groups, its adamant position is shared by what
appears to be a growing number of Armenians, observers say. Less
than two weeks before a June 10 meeting between Armenian President
Robert Kocharian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, nearly
50 organizations issued an open letter opposing the return of any
territory by Armenia as part of a potential Karabakh peace deal. [For
background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

The open letter specifically demanded that Yerevan end all negotiations
with Azerbaijan "regarding the possible surrender of the liberated
regions of Artsakh [the Armenian name for Nagorno-Karabakh]." Further,
it also stated that "any politician or public officer who should openly
declare or demonstrate a willingness to surrender Armenian lands,
will be regarded a national traitor and a blatant enemy of the state."

Samvel Martirosyan, founder of the OpenArmenia web portal, is one of
the letter’s signatories. "Three or four years ago, society was really
tired of the Karabakh issue and wanted to think about the economy,"
Martirosyan said. "But now people take a more radical position and this
includes those who were more liberal and tolerant before." [Editor’s
note: Martirosyan was once an occasional commentator for EurasiaNet].

The Association of Investigative Journalists of Armenia is a case in
point. Despite having been involved in peace-building and regional
integration projects, the association has now started to use the term
"liberated territories" in its Hetq Online publication to describe the
seven regions currently under Armenian control. The same publication
has also criticized Armenian and Karabakh authorities for not doing
enough to repopulate those territories with Armenian settlers, and
has held public discussions to promote policy changes.

Martirosyan claims that attitudes are hardening because many Armenians
no longer see any possibility of concluding a peace deal that benefits
Armenia. The seeming reluctance of government bodies, along with
many non-governmental organizations, to promote public debate on the
Karabakh issue has contributed to the trend, Martirosyan added.

The opposition Heritage and Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law) Parties,
the only two opposition parties represented in Armenia’s National
Assembly, were among the few political forces that addressed the
Karabakh issue during the recent parliamentary election campaign
[For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Other parties
largely avoided the issue, or did not express a well-defined position.

Stepan Safarian, former director of the Armenian Center for National
and International Studies and a newly elected parliamentarian for
the opposition Heritage Party, agrees that the lack of an active,
broad-based discussion about Karabakh has fueled opposition to
compromise with Azerbaijan, but notes that increasingly aggressive
statements from Baku also have played a major role. [For background
see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Civil society activist Artak Ayunts maintains that a robust number of
Armenians continue to support the search for a political compromise
with Azerbaijan. "If Azerbaijanis visited Armenia and Karabakh,
they could not have done so without the support of the Azerbaijani
government," he said, referring to the June 28 goodwill mission. [For
details, see the Eurasia Insight archive]. "Anyway, there are some NGOs
here which are more liberal than others and who don’t want to react
against a harder line coming from Azerbaijan by playing the same game."

Editor’s Note: Onnik Krikorian is a freelance photojournalist and
writer based in Yerevan.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress