ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: WE HAVE NO INTENTIONS TO USE KOSOVO AS PRECEDENT FOR NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT

Regnum, Russia
Oct 4 2007

The Armenian foreign minister while speaking at the UN General
Assembly session presented Yerevan’s position on an initiative to
propose for discussion at the UN General Assembly the subject of
frozen conflicts. "The Nagorno Karabakh conflict is on the agenda of
the UN General Assembly on frozen conflicts. However, any resolution
that covers all conflicts is not comprehensive from the start, as
all of them are different," Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan
announced yesterday.

As REGNUM was told at the Armenian foreign ministry press office,
Vardan Oskanyan that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict must not be
discussed at the UN, as the negotiation process on its settlement
is held within frameworks of the OSCE. "It is not the place for the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict," the minister concluded.

According to the foreign minister, the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is
not a frozen one. "We continue the negotiations and centimeter for
centimeter are getting closer to its settlement. Secondly, there
is a serious document on the negotiation table that is based not on
dreams but on key problems and consequences," the diplomat said adding
that together they would result in a balanced solution. "Thirdly, the
process is grounded upon the right of the Nagorno Karabakh people for
self-determination, for choosing their future. The Nagorno Karabakh
people want nothing that does not belong to them. They want to have
a right for peaceful living and determining their future. They want
to use the right that every nation used represented at the UN."

"We are closely watching the developments around Kosovo. We hear
statements of the international community that Kosovo can become
a precedent for other conflicts. We have no intentions to use
Kosovo as precedent, as it will contradict our position that all
conflicts differ," Vardan Oskanyan said that the Armenian side does
not understand and cannot accept the reverse logic that Kosovo was
given independence and that a nation cannot obtain self-determination.

"Nobody should tell us that there are proportions of freedom or
security," Vardan Oskanyan concluded.

The initiative to discuss frozen conflicts at the 62nd UN General
Assembly was proposed by GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova).

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress