INTERNAL POLICY POSES DANGER TO KARABAKH
James Hakobyan

Lragir.am
11:39:24 – 04/11/2008

Part of the society concludes from the declaration signed by the
presidents of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan that Armenia has already
returned the liberated territories and even Karabakh. It is not quite
clear which point of the declaration has caused such concern but the
problem is that the declaration signed in Moscow contains nothing
new about the process of settlement of the conflict and particularly
the stance of the government of Armenia. Consequently, if there are
worries that the government of Armenia has returned the territories
and Karabakh, these worries should have been much earlier than the
declaration of Moscow and Serge Sargsyan’s presidency, and maybe even
earlier than Robert Kocharyan’s presidency.

The reason for worry about returning the territories and Karabakh
should not be the declaration of Moscow but the fact that the liberated
territories have turned into duty-free estates for generals and
high-ranking officials.

The reason for worry about returning the territories should not be the
declaration of Moscow but the "patriotic" election in Karabakh and
the eradication of the last morsels of opposition and dissent, when
they become president by 88 percent of votes only in two countries of
the world, Azerbaijan and Karabakh, and maybe also in Venezuela. The
reason for worry about returning the territories and Karabakh should
be the mechanism of internal life, public and political relations,
the shaping of government, which has been successfully working in
Armenia and conscientiously sold abroad for over one and a half decade.

If the worry about all this is less than about a statement by a
co-chair or a resolution and a declaration, the value, or more exactly
the weight of that worry is zero. The Karabakh issue, the issue of
the territories, the independence of Karabakh and the security of
Armenia and Karabakh are not determined in Moscow, by a declaration
or a resolution, or by anything else but by the quality of states
built in Armenia and Karabakh. If anyone is interested in the fate
and security of Karabakh, they should first of all take interest in
the quality of states in Armenia and Karabakh.

No doubt, the declaration of Moscow does not suppose more than there
has been before in terms of returning the territories or Karabakh. In
reality, the declaration brings the danger posed to Karabakh and the
territories neither closer nor farther. The danger comes from the
internal policies in Armenia, which have not changed for a decade and
a half, and they have started affecting Nagorno-Karabakh as well. All
the developments relating to Karabakh are the consequences of the
internal policy which do not act in full detriment to us only because
they overlap with the interests of not all the mediators.