Lragir, Armenia
Jan 11 2008

OSKANYAN WAS A DEVOTEE OF STAGE-BY-STAGE RESOLUTION

When during the news conference on January 11 the reporters asked
Levon Ter-Petrosyan to comment on Vardan Oskanyan’s evaluation of his
approach toward the resolution of the Karabakh conflict, the first
president said he would not comment for Serge Sargsyan, let alone
Vardan Oskanyan.

Levon Ter-Petrosyan also stated that he is aware of the recent
proposal of the co-chairs, but since it is confidential, and he is
not a government official, he has no right to spell out his attitude.

`I have conveyed the content during one of my addresses to the
rallies. In fact, it is the same stage-by-stage solution, they should
give up this illusionism. It is the same stage-by-stage solution,
plus one element, the statement about the future of the status of
Nagorno-Karabakh, including an ambiguous statement on a referendum, a
public poll or a plebiscite after an uncertain period,’ Levon
Ter-Petrosyan says.

By the way, he has also stated that when he was in power, Vardan
Oskanyan actively negotiated the stage-by-stage resolution, and was
the only participant of the well-known meeting of the council for
security in 1998 who protected the stage-by-stage settlement.