TOMAS DE VAAL: THE INFORMATION IN ARMINFO WAS NOT DISTORTED

ArmInfo Agency, Armenia
Oct 10 2007

ArmInfo. The information in ArmInfo was not distorted, the British
writer, author of the book on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict "Black
Garden" said in his interview with ArmInfo correspondent, commenting
on the relevant statement disseminated by Azerbaijani media.

To note, the Azerbaijani media disseminated T.de Vaal’s statement in
which he expressed a wish "to make more precise what he had said for
several times during the book’s presentation and in various speeches
in Armenia and to correct what was publicized in ArmInfo". ArmInfo
correspondent asked T. de Vaal to comment on the situation. It turned
out that the author’s pretension arose because of the paragraph, in
which, as it seemed to the author, a statement was ascribed to him
about Nagoro-Karabakh’s possible gaining sovereignty, the statement
being formulated in the following sentence of ArmInfo information:
"He emphasized that ceding of territories, acquisition of sovereignty
status of NK state, Armenia’s keeping the Lachin corridor-these are
issues which the communities of the parties must thoroughly discuss".

However, after a number of clarifications, Tomas de Vaal agreed that
the information publicized in ArmInfo was a "very good one". But the
mentioned sentence, after all, seems dubious to the author. "I didn’t
mean that Nagorno-Karabakh must be independent, and the Lachin corridor
must be under Armenia’s control. I know that it is not advantageous
for Azerbaijan presently or may be always. I prefer to keep agnostic’s
position in these issues. The best solution, I think, is the security
guarantee and a kind of interim status", T. de Vaal said.

However, this sentence was preceded by T. de Vaal’s following
statement, which was made at a press conference in Yerevan and
which even more distinctly shows the author’s real position: "If
Robert Kocharian and Vardan Oskanyan declare publicly what they
have already agreed among themselves, namely, that they are ready
to cede the occupied territories if Azerbaijan guarantees security
and sovereignty of Nagorno-Krabakh, the atmosphere in the peaceful
negotiations and in Azerbaijan itself will fundamentally change".

Moreover, the author said in another sentence that the matter
concerns to the ceding of territories around Nagorno-Karabakh, with
the exception of Lachin corridor.