LEVON TER-PETROSSYAN: "BY MOSCOW DECLARATION NAGORNO-KARABAKH WILL PLAY NO ROLE IN A NEGOTIATING PROCESS DETERMINING ITS FATE"

Today.Az
tics/48762.html
Nov 5 2008
Azerbaijan

"The Moscow Declaration should undoubtedly be considered as one
of the most important stages of the Karabakh peace process",
Levon Ter-Petrossyan, the first president of Armenia, head of the
oppositional Armenian National Congress, said in his interview with
"A1+" TV company.

He stressed that in the near future one should expect important
events related to the fates of Karabakh and Armenian statehood,
against the background of which domestic political problems are
paled into insignificance. "And we are going to attentively follow
the developments, assess the adequacy of the Armenian authorities’
actions in the current situation and we’ll try to either prevent or
minimize the threats to the Armenian party’s interests. The Declaration
signed in Moscow on November 2 should be considered as one of the
most important stages of the peace process", Ter-Petrossyan stressed.

He disagreed with the opinion that the Declaration has a formal
character and is deprived of specific content. According to
Ter-Petrossyan, only those who are unaware of the Karabakh peace
process nuances may have such wrong impression. However, experts
qualify this Declaration as quite "eloquent" as some principles and
specific moments are determined in it. One should keep in mind that
this document is only the tip of an iceberg, something more essential
in concealed under it, and it is not difficult to guess its content,
says Ter-Petrossyan.

In this connection, he noted that, firstly, the first item of
the Declaration contains formulation which can’t help causing
concern. According to the first item, "the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
will be settled on the basis of standards and principles of the
international law, as well as decisions and documents adopted
within these frames". Ter-Petrossyan is concerned not so much for
the reference of norms and principles of the international law as
of decisions and documents adopted on their basis. The Declaration
undoubtedly means resolution 62/243 of UN GA and resolution 1614 of
PACE – both recognizing the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and
demanding that the Armenian armed forces be immediately withdrawn
from the Azerbaijani territory near Nagorno-Karabakh.

Second, the 2nd point of the Moscow Declaration clearly says that
the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be based on
the Madrid proposal made by the OSCE Minsk Group Nov 29 2007. This
proposal combines two principles of the international law: territorial
integrity and nation’s self-determination.

Third, the 4th point of the declaration says that the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict must be resolved through direct dialogue between Azerbaijan
and Armenia – this is a new format and a de facto end to the decision
of the OSCE Budapest Summit of 1994 recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic as the third party to the conflict. This means that
Nagorno-Karabakh will play no role in a negotiating process determining
its fate.

Fourth, the most important result of the Moscow Declaration is that
the two conflicting parties, Armenia and Azerbaijan, have given their
consent to the Madrid proposal. The problem is that the previous
proposals of the OSCE MG were rejected by the conflicting parties
and removed from the agenda. The Moscow Declaration has marked the
beginning of the final stage of the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.

Ter-Petrossyan also added that Russia’s initiative on signing of this
Declaration does not at all contradict his idea that the West will play
the decisive role in the Karabakh conflict settlement. Ter-Petrossyan
said the Moscow meeting is crucial, nevertheless it is just the
beginning of the settlement process. At present this process continues
in Europe and will probably end in December in the USA. That is to
say, despite the fact that Russia initiated settlement, nevertheless
the West will put full stop. Sargsyan as well as Aliyev took part
in the Moscow meeting if not forcefully but evidently with unhidden
displeasure. And finally stemming from these ideas they will prefer
mediation of the West. As for the role of the OSCE Minsk Group,
the more the necessity of continuation of the OSCE MG activity is
emphasized and more complements sound in its address it is becoming
more suspicious there are disagreements within it, Armenian first
president Levon Ter-Petrossyan said.