ARMENIAN LEADER SAYS FEW DIFFERENCES REMAIN ON KARABAKH SETTLEMENT
Mediamax
Nov 7 2007
Armenia
Yerevan, 7 November: Armenian President Robert Kocharyan thinks that
"the stage-by-stage solution can be applied only in the process of
implementation of the agreements reached in the settlement of the
Karabakh conflict".
Kocharyan, who is on an official visit in Finland, made the statement
at the Aleksanteri Institute in Helsinki on 6 November. Kocharyan said
there should not be pre-conditions and the discussion of Nagornyy
Karabakh status should not be linked to the return of territories
or refugees.
"We should speak about a package that has been completely agreed
upon. The implementation of the package components may be spread
over time due to various objective and subjective reasons. But the
territories – not all of them – are part of the package. Nagornyy
Karabakh should have a land link with Armenia. Nagornyy Karabakh
should not be an enclave," Kocharyan said.
Speaking of the settlement prospects, Kocharyan said that "not many
disagreements have been left, they concern some issues".
"The remaining issues are mainly of technical nature, for example,
to use the term of a ‘referendum’ or a ‘plebiscite’. An agreement can
be reached. However, if one follows what is happening in reality –
an arms race, belligerent statements, constant threats – then the
impression is that we are speaking about two different processes. It
is a movement in opposite directions. The document we are discussing
is directed towards a reasonable solution but what is happening in
reality is a completely different process. This is exactly why I
don’t have many reasons for optimism," he said.