ACCORDING TO STEPAN DEMIRCHIAN, PRIMARY TASK OF ARMENIA SHOULD BE INVOLVING KARABAKH AS PARTY IN NEGOTIATIONS

Noyan Tapan

Nov 14, 2008

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 14, NOYAN TAPAN. "It was reasserted in the Moscow
Declaration that the settlement of the Karabakh conflict should
be within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group and in a peaceful
way. The negative aspect is that Karabakh did not participate in the
Declaration’s signing," the leader of People’s Party of Armenia (PPA),
member of the Armenian National Congress (ANC) Stepan Demirchian
stated at the November 14 press conference. In his words, today the
primary task of Armenia in the Karabakh problem should be making
Artsakh a party in the negotiations. As for the Madrid principles,
S. Demirchian said that it will be possible to make detailed judgements
about these principles only after their declassification. However,
it is clear from the information that the opposition has received so
far that the Madrid principles give cause for some concern. "We are
against unilateral concessions," the PPA leader said.

By his forecast, no rapid solution to the conflict can be expected
in the coming months.

Speaking about the criminal case opened against 7 opposition political
figures in connection of the March 1 events, S. Demirchian considered
it as false. "It was not a coup attempt. People began to gather
near the French embassy after they had been subjected to violence
in Liberty Square where they were legally expressing their protest
against the rigged election," S. Demirchian said.