KIRO MANOYAN: AGHDAM IS PART OF ARTSAKH

Lragir
Oct 8 2007
Armenia

Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan has stated in Moscow the Karabakh issue
will be solved if Azerbaijan recognizes the right of Karabakh for
self-determination and Armenia recognizes the territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan. The reporters asked Kiro Manoyan, in charge of Hay
Dat and Political Affairs of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun Bureau, hosted
at the Hayatsk club on October 8, to comment on the prime minister’s
statement on the recognition of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.

"We know that Artsakh is not part of the territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan. We are not occupying any territory. We have liberated
territories. The territories are Artsakh. Mountainous Karabakh and
the Lowlands are all Artsakh. Artsakh is not part of the territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan. And the legal grounds are that the borders
of Azerbaijan have not been defined. The administrative borders of an
empire are not sufficient ground for the recognition of the territorial
integrity of a state. The territorial integrity of Azerbaijan had
been discussed by the Nations League which did not recognize because
it has a territorial dispute, the Karabakh issue.

We think Artsakh is not part of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity,"
Kiro Manoyan says.

Even the international organizations which say to recognize
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity do not recognize it saying that
there is a dispute over Karabakh, Kiro Manoyan says. "If they said
not to recognize the territorial integrity, it would mean that they
recognize the independence of Karabakh. Armenia is not saying that
we recognize the territorial integrity and there is no Karabakh issue.

The Karabakh issue is the core issue," says the ARF Bureau member in
charge of Hay Dat and Political Affairs.

According to him, what is not under Armenian control is ours, as well
as the Armenian regions, part of Martakert, Shahumyan, Getashen, which
are now occupied by Azerbaijan. Kiro Manoyan considers Aghdam as part
of Artsakh as well. Although Kiro Manoyan has heard about statements
by Vardan Oskanyan and Serge Sargsyan on returning the territories,
he says we won’t let them return the lands. "The resolution of the
issue of Artsakh should be based on a referendum among the people of
Armenia," Kiro Manoyan says, adding that the referendum in Karabakh
is not enough. He thinks that no president of Armenia would return
those territories if people did not back him.

"We have stated that our statements do not compare to, are not adequate
to Azerbaijan’s militaristic statements. And it seems that we have
already given it away, without getting anything in return.

Therefore, we have nothing else to give away except for peace,"
Kiro Manoyan says.