Kocharian: Armenia to toughen approaches to NK settlement

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
April 5 2008

ROBERT KOCHARIAN: ARMENIA TO TOUGHEN APPROACHES TO KARABAKH
SETTLEMENT

YEREVAN, 04.04.08. DE FACTO. Armenia should toughen its approaches to
the Karabakh settlement, the RA President Robert Kocharian told
journalists on Friday commenting Azeri FM Elmar Mammadyarov’s
statements, according to which Azerbaijan had not toughened its stand
in the Karabakh settlement issue, so the matter depends on Armenia.
According to the President, it has recently become obvious that
Azerbaijan made an attempt to take advantage of internal political
situation in Armenia to influence on the negotiation process on the
Karabakh settlement.
`Such approaches of Azerbaijan should make Armenian party be more
resolute in the principal issues and, naturally, there cannot be any
changes or concessions in approaches’, R. Kocharian said.
In the RA President’s opinion, on the contrary, in such cases one
should answer exclusively `by toughening approaches both in the
Karabakh issue and Armenia’s stand’.
`Azerbaijan will naturally try to take advantage of the situation.
We, in our part, should realize that Armenia’s stability and rate of
growth are the best guarantee that we’ll have firm stands in the
Karabakh issue’, Robert Kocharian said, Novosti-Armenia Agency reports.