ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER DISMISSES ALLEGATIONS OF LAND SWAP FOR RESOLVING KARABAKH ISSUE
ARMENPRESS
Feb 13, 2008
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 13, ARMENPRESS: Foreign minister Vartan Oskanian
echoed president Robert Kocharian on Tuesday to dismiss media
speculations claiming that president Robert Kocharian had agreed back
in 1999 to give the Armenian region of Meghri to Azerbaijan in return
for Nagorno-Karabakh within its 1988 borders and the Lachin region
of Azerbaijan, which would become internationally recognized parts
of Armenia.
A local daily Haykakan Zhamanak published last Saturday the text of
a Nagorno-Karabakh peace plan drafted ostensibly by international
mediators, which it claimed was accepted by Kocharian in 1999.
During a televised appearance on Shant TV Tuesday evening Oskanian said
no official or semi-official document related to the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict settlement had ever mentioned Meghri as part of a land
swap option.
Oskanian said the text of an agreement, published by Haykakan Zhamanak,
refers to a settlement option proposed by a U.S. expert Paul Goble
that was circulated in early 1990-s and was denied flatly by 2000.
Media stories in Armenia claimed that Kocharian was going to cede
Meghri to Azerbaijan and thus deprive Armenia of a 45 km long border
with friendly Iran, but Oskanian said the OSCE Minsk Group, the sole
internationally mandate team to help Armenia and Azerbaijan end their
dispute, had never proposed a swap option.
Ter-Petrosian’s allegations, which he sounded during a rally in Yerevan
on February 9, were dismissed earlier by president Robert Kocharian
as a "cheap pre-election ploy." Addressing the crowd on Freedom
Square Ter-Petrosian said if materialized the agreement would entail
to the loss of a common border with Iran and would have disastrous
consequences for the landlocked Armenia. He further claimed that the
document was authentic.
On Tuesday Oskanian likewise described ex-president’s allegations as
‘a cheap election ploy."
"His (Ter-Petrosian’s) allegations are not true. They are speculations
and unfortunately, I have to say they are immoral as he is trying to
link it to the October 27, 1999 parliament attack,’ Oskanian said.
Ter-Petrosian claimed that the plan was strongly opposed by late prime
minister Vazgen Sarkisian and parliament speaker Karen Demirchian at
a meeting of Armenia’s National Security Council which took place
shortly before the October 27, 1999 armed attack on parliament in
which both of them were killed.
Ter-Petrosian further argued that this must be examined as "one of
the likely theories" of the parliament attack.
However, according to Oskanian, after his resignation in 1998
Ter-Petrosian never met with late prime minister Vazgen Sarkisian
while president Kocharian had ‘excellent’ prelateships with him.
Oskanian said back in 1994 a narrow circle of Armenian leaders had
discussed the so-called Goble plan and he was present at it in the
capacity of a deputy foreign minister. He said Ter-Petrosian had
expressed an opinion saying ‘if the northern section of Azerbaijani
exclave Nakhichevan were given to Armenia to ensure a border with Iran,
the Goble plan would be beneficial for Armenia.’ At that Oskanian
said he could not say that "Ter-Petrosian wanted to hand Meghri to
Azerbaijan because it is absurd, not correct as Ter-Petrosian never
said anything like that".
Oskanian said the region of Meghri is vital for Armenia and has become
the symbol of Iranian-Armenian partnership. He said Iran-Armenia
gas pipeline, an inter-state highway run through Meghri, and soon a
refinery will be built there and a hydro power plant will be built
on the River of Arax. He said all these projects were conceived 10
years ago.