ARMENIAN PRESIDENT DOES NOT RULE OUT NEW WAR WITH AZERBAIJAN

APA
[ 12 Jul 2007 16:35 ]

The cause of unsuccessful negotiations on the settlement of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict is the fact that Azerbaijan is unwilling to
accept the reality and mistakenly thinks that the opposite process
is possible, whereas it is senseless to turn back the wheel of
history. The people who gained independence, will not refuse from
that," Armenian President Robert Kocharian stated in an interview to
SPIEGEL ONLINE.

Drawing a parallel between Kosovo and the Nagorno Karabakh conflicts
said, "We do not want to attach to analogues, but undoubtedly the
Karabakh people have the same right to independence as Albanians
of Kosovo, moreover if they protected their right alone without
interference by the international community. As to the assistance from
Armenia … Armenian people fought during the war. Do you really think
that Albania has not provided assistance to Albanians of Kosovo? There
are a lot of correlations here and I see Armenia and Karabakh’s future
as an asymmetric confederation.," Kocharian said.

He did not rule out a new war with Azerbaijan.

"Though I doubt that Azerbaijan’s military budget is bigger of our
state budget. I would warn against judging about the correlation of
forces from both sides only by figures. You must take into account
and the fact that the soldier who defends his homeland has another
motivation, than the one who acts on a foreign territory. We do not
have any intention to launch military operations. But in case of a
prepared aggression we will make decisions, to which we will be obliged
by the military situation of the time and which will meet our security
interests. Our offers on the settlement of the conflict are connected
with recognition of the republic and security guarantees. They suppose
presence of peacekeepers. It must be an international peacekeeping
contingent," Armenian President underscored.