AMERICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF AMERICA CRITICIZES U.S. "NEW STAND" ON NAGORNO KARABAKH SETTLEMENT

Noyan Tapan
Oct 20, 2008

WASHINGTON, OCTOBER 20, ARMENIANS TODAY – NOYAN TAPAN. Bush
Administration officials continued to press forward their new, more
aggressive position against freedom for Nagorno Karabagh, citing, as
recently as today in Yerevan, that a resolution of this longstanding
conflict must proceed from the principle of Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity, while remaining conspicuously silent on the core American
value of self- determination. This statement was issued by the Armenian
National Committee of America (ANCA) on October 17.

The statement says that over the past several weeks, since the time
of Vice President Dick Cheney’s early September visit to Azerbaijan,
the Administration has rolled back any mention of self-determination,
eliminating any reference to this core international legal and
democratic principle from its diplomatic vocabulary. Speaking in
Baku, the Vice President, echoing Azerbaijan’s negotiating stand,
said that a Nagorno Karabagh settlement "must proceed" from the
principle of territorial integrity and only "take into account other
principles." "As recently as earlier today, in Armenia, Assistant
Secretary of State Dan Fried repeated the newly formulated U.S. stand
that a Nagorno Karabagh settlement must start from the principle of
"territorial integrity," although he did concede that there were
"other established norms," an apparent reference to democracy and
self-determination, which he carefully avoided naming," says the
ANCA statement.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress