Yeni Musavat, Azerbaijan
February 25, 2008

WEST BACKS ARMENIAN PRESIDENT-ELECT TO ENSURE KARABAKH PEACE DEAL

A Baku-based opposition paper has said that the West wants to ensure
a peaceful solution to the Karabakh problem bydescribing the results
of the 19 February Armenian presidential election as legitimate.

"There is only one purpose of recognizing [Armenian president-elect]
Serzh Sargsyan as legitimate. It is toreach peace between Azerbaijan
and Armenia over Nagornyy Karabakh," opposition Yeni Musavat
newspaper reported on25 February.

Yeni Musavat added that the West understood that it would change
nothing in Armenia if it did not even recognize the election results.

"Because Armenia’s policy is under Russia’s tight control and Moscow
will have no difficulties inmaking its man a president in this
country. In this situation, the West is trying to satisfy its own
interests. It wantsto reinforce its positions in the Caucasus region,
by obtaining a peace agreement on Karabakh through him," thepaper
added.

The daily reported that there remains no serious reasons for Sargsyan
to sign a peace agreement as the international community also
considers him to be legitimate, stressing that "he is especially
satisfied with the current optiondiscussed in the talks and Sargsyan
said this before the election".

Yeni Musavat added that Sargsyan got serious political support from
the West to continue and sum up the talks. Thepaper assumes that the
West will apply the same scenario on Azerbaijan during the
presidential election this year.

"The possible victory of a representative of the authorities will be
recognized in a hurry as was the case inArmenia and it will be stated
that finally, this country also managed to conduct an election
meeting internationalstandards. If the possible victory of the
candidate of the authorities is recognized in Azerbaijan, then there
willremain no serious pretext for Baku before the West to prepare the
people for peace," Yeni Musavat said.

The paper added that the "West will turn a blind eye to
irregularities if only the candidate of the authorities,that is
incumbent President Ilham Aliyev gains not 85 per cent as the New
Azerbaijan Party members want, but 50 per centof the votes, at least,
minimum conditions are created for the main opposition candidates to
contest the election, theirsupporters are not arrested on a mass
scale during the election campaign and the arrested journalists and
politicalprisoners are set free".

"Otherwise, it would be rather bad for the West to legitimize the
doubtful election results," Yeni Musavat said.