From: "Katia M. Peltekian" <[email protected]>
Subject: Regulation of NK Conflict Not First Priority for Armenian President
Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
May 30 2008
Regulation of Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict is Not First Priority for
Armenian President – Expert
30.05.08 10:32
Azerbaijan, Baku, 29 May / Trend News corr. M.Aliyev / For now the
regulation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not the first priority
for the new elected President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, Thomas de
Vaal, a political scientist and author of the well-known book -Black
garden: Azerbaijan and Armenia -between peace and war’, believes.
`The Armenian President is in the difficult political state after the
disputable presidential elections and bloodshed happened in Armenia on
1 March and tries to approve the legitimacy of his position before the
population,’ de Vaal told to TrendNews via e-mail from London on 29
May.
The conflict between the two countries of South Caucasus began in 1988
due to territorial claims by Armenia against Azerbaijan. Armenia has
occupied 20% of the Azerbaijani land including the Nagorno-Karabakh
region and its seven surrounding Districts. Since 1992, these
territories have been under the occupation of the Armenian Forces. In
1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which
time the active hostilities ended. The Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk
Group ( Russia, France and USA) are currently holding peaceful
negotiations.
The first meeting between the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and
Armenian’s Serzh Sargsyan is scheduled for 6 June within the framework
of the informal summit of the CIS member-countries.
Thomas de Vaal believes that neither Washington nor Moscow do not see
to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as the priority in Caucasus
yet. `The leaders of the both countries will prolong the time and will
make serious compromises,’ de Vaal said.
According to de Vaal, the perspectives for the private cooperation
between Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan will be better than with
Robert Kocharian.
However, the current circumstances dictate that the negotiation
process is in the deadlock. `It is difficult to imagine that currently
Azerbaijan dissociates from the `main principles’ that was discussed
in 2007. However, Armenians say that no negotiations can be held
around the document, which says the territorial integrity’.
In the end of 2007, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs for the first time
gave the document `Main principles’ to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict to Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Thomas de Vaal has commented the will of Armenians of Karabakh to join
the negotiation process. `Unfortunately, the issue regarding
participation of Karabakh residents in the negotiation process is
politicized. It is said in Yerevan that the conflict is conflict
between the Karabakh Armenians and Baku, and Armenia was just an
interested side is not right. From the other side, the position of
Baku that the conflict goes on between Baku and Yerevan is also
wrong,’ de Vaal said.