TURKEY CANNOT BE A MEDIATOR
SHOUSHAN MATEVOSYAN

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
15 Nov 08
Armenia

`Turkey may offer its assistance, but it cannot be a mediator. And the
only form of assistance, in my understanding, is to influence
Azerbaijan,’ AGHVAN VARDANYAN, member of the ARFD Bureau announced
yesterday in a press conference, speaking about Turkey’s possible role
in the settlement of the NKR conflict.

Assessing the policy conducted by Turkey over the recent months, the
speaker considered it very flexible not only on the regional but also
on the global level. `Turkey is trying to raise its role, and uses all
kinds of tools to protect its interests both in the region and in the
world.’ The examples are quite obvious. `Following the war in South
Ossetia, Ankara immediately made a proposal on initiating peace and
stability processes in the Caucasus. Now, after the presidential
elections in the United States, Turkey offers its role as a mediator in
establishing new kinds of relations between Tehran and Washington.’

Viewing the foreign policy conducted by Armenia over the recent months,
A. Vardanyan considers it interesting and at the same time full of
controversial interpretations. `Some people welcome it, others are
critical, while another group of people expresses concerns. But we will
have a more comprehensive picture of the situation if we combine and
analyze all the events and statements.’

As regards the options of settling the Karabakh conflict, Aghvan
Vardanyan finds that a solution `will be found as a result of long and
goal-oriented activities. There mustn’t be hasty decisions.’

A. Vardanyan is convinced that there are many issues arousing concern.
He believes that Armenia currently adheres to the policy that has
existed for several years continuously and is sure that the political
forces, leadership and people of Armenia will share similar opinions
with regard to the most serious matters concerning the country’s
security. The activist of Dashnaktsutyun does not see any hazard in
this respect.

Touching upon the Moscow Declaration, the member of the ARFD Bureau
noted that `the signature of the Declaration gave us an extra
opportunity to discuss the issue of the Karabakh conflict and underline
Russia’s role in its settlement.’