ADOPTION OF RESOLUTION INTRODUCED BY AZERBAIJAN IN UN WAS NOT SURPRISE FOR ARMENIA, RA PRESIDENT’S SPOKESPERSON SAYS

Noyan Tapan
March 17, 2008

YEREVAN, MARCH 17, NOYAN TAPAN. "We are filled with enthusiasm as
civilized countries abstained from expressing this or that attitude
to the resolution The Situation in the Occupied Territories adopted
by the UN General Assembly lately at Azerbaijan’s suggestion,
as they understand that with it they will do no good to the
negotiations process and to the problem settlement in general,"
Viktor Soghomonian, the RA President’s Spokesperson, stated at the
March 17 press conference.

In his words, the resolution’s adoption was not a surprise for Armenia:
just like in other cases when documents not having a legal force
are adopted by UN, in this case also Armenia has nothing special to
worry about.

V. Soghomonian said that if the attitude of the OSCE Minsk Group
Co-chair countries and Russian Foreign Ministry’s statement on
the UN resolution are taken into account, the representatives
of these countries consider that the negotiations process can be
endangered. According to him, a question emerges currently: how much
seriously does Azerbaijan treat the negotiations process?

V. Soghomonian did not touch upon the issue of Armenia’s remaining or
not in the Minsk Group negotiations format. Stating that Armenia’s
approach to that problem depends on the further development of
events, he at the same time said that "steps of the kind can in no
way contribute to the settlement of the problem."

Touching upon a journalist’s observation that Uzbekistan, a member
of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) has also voted
for the resolution (Armenia is also a member of that structure,
but Azerbaijan is not), V. Soghomonian expressed confidence that the
voting results will always be "in the focus of our attention."