VARDAN OSKANYAN: "GIVEN THE VAGUE AND INDIRECT REFERENCE TO MADRID PRINCIPLES, IT IS CLEAR THAT THE LONG EXISTING DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE PARTIES HAVE BECOME EVEN DEEPER"

Today.Az
litics/49021.html
Nov 17 2008
Azerbaijan

Day.Az interview with former foreign minister of Armenia, president
of Sivilitas foundation Vardan Oskanyan.

– You have been leading the foreign ministry of Armenia for long,
taking an active part in the negotiation process on the peaceful
resolution of the Karabakh conflict. You are one of these rare
specialists, who are well familiar with the Karabakh problem. What do
you think about the adoption of the Moscow declaration on Karabakh by
the presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia? Can this document
be called "an ordinary paper"?

– I don’t think this document will add anything to the process. It
does not go beyond generalities. But for someone who can read
between the lines, it is very telling. First, in my view, given the
Russian mediation and what transpired in Georgia, this document was
to affirm the commitment of all involved to non use of force which
does not. Second, given the vague and indirect reference to Madrid
principles, it is clear that the long existing differences between
the parties have become even deeper. Thirdly, Azerbaijan remains
fixated on non Minsk process documents advancing one sided solution
which are contrary to the letter and spirit of the very document that
the parties seemingly remain committed to.

– Why do you think Moscow decided to undertake the resolution of the
Karabakh conflict at this moment? Which dividends does Russia hope
to take from its mediation mission?

– It is not unusual that a president of a co-chair country
intermittently take such initiative. President Chirac of France has
done it before, President Putin on few occasions, even president
Bush has done it right after Key West meeting. Today the context
and the circumstances under which this meeting has taken place of
course are different. Russia clearly would like to demonstrate its
leadership in the region and rebuff the criticism leveled against
her for recognizing South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

– Press says that Moscow is extremely displeased with Sargsyan,
who did not justify its hopes. Are the leaders of the unrecognized
Nagorno Karabakh also displeased with the Armenian President. How can
such moods be called? Do you share this opinion? If it is really like
that, why are they displeased?

– We have heard similar speculations before which I knew were
not true. This one is of similar pattern and nature. President
Sarkissian’s relations with both Moscow and NK leadership seem to be
good and friendly, and I have not detected any strains, or seen any
particular development that could lead to any complication.

– Is it possible that today the Kremlin puts pressure on Yerevan
for the latter to make concessions in the Karabakh issue? If yes,
will Serzh Sargsyan be able to persuade Karabakh Armenians to make
concessions in this conflict, as it is not ruled out that under
such developments his fate might be the same as of former Armenian
President Levon Ter-Petrosyan?

– I am not in the inner circles of decision making and cannot say
whether there is pressure or not. In the past there has not been any
pressure from any quarter. But again the situation in the region and
the world is different today. Armenia’s president’s options, however,
for compromise are limited. As far as I sense our public’s sentiments,
we have already pushed that to the limit in the Madrid document for the
sake of reaching a peaceful solution. I really don’t see how anyone
can sign a document in which Karabagh people’s unequivocal right to
self-determination, its integral link to Armenia and security are
not guaranteed.

– "Robert Kocharyan, Vardan Oskanyan and Tigran Torosyan intend
to create a new party. As is known, they have been invited to the
"Belaccio" restaurant by Kocharyan’s initiative", according to mass
media. Is it true? Do you plan to return to politics?

– Those rumors are far from being true. I will return to politics
one day, but the timing and the form of that will be contingent on
the development in and out of the country.

– Russian analysts say that the independent position of Turkey is
favorable for the Kremlin, which scares Armenia that there will be a
reorientation of the Russian external policy towards Ankara-Baku and
Armenia will be in a difficult state. The quo status in the region,
so profitable for Armenia, is violated and Sargsyan is obliged to
hold talks in conditions of the complete absence of maneuver…

– International relations is not a zero sum game. The possibilities are
so many and diverse, that even multitude of bilateral commitments and
engagements need not be at someone else’s expanse. Russian-Armenian
relations are on solid footing, based on mutual political, security
and economic interests. Russia’s engagement on the Ankara-Baku axis
may even be beneficial to Armenia, being the missing piece in that
puzzle which could complete the bigger picture of a Caucasus with
multiple transportation links rather than complete reliance on Georgia.