KARABAKH SETTLEMENT HAS A LONG WAY TO PASS, ARMENIA PRESIDENT SAYS

armradio.am
17.11.2008 12:03

The settlement of the Karabakh issue still has a long way to pass,
President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said in an interview with Public
TV. "We should try to arrive at a decision, which I will be sure,
derives from the interests of our people. After that the issue should
be put on public discussion. Then we will need to sign a treaty, then
an agreement, etc," the President said, adding: "When I repeatedly
state that we will not protract the solution of the issue, it does
not mean the question will be solved tomorrow, in a month or in
four months."

Serzh Sargsyan expressed confidence that "we should not artificially
delay the solution of the issue, but we still need to arrive at an
agreement, which will be followed by a long process. This is not an
issue to be solved by one, two, 131 or even 1 300 people. This is
one of the most vital issues of our peoples, and people should say
whether they agree with the way of solution we will arrive at as a
result of negotiations," the President of Armenia underlined.

The leader of the country stated that he stands for involvement of
the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, Karabakh President Bako Sahakyan in
the negotiation process and considers that "it is probably the most
effective way and it will be the case earlier or later. There is
simply no other way."

With regard to the much criticized Maindorf Declaration signed by the
President of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia, Serzh Sargsyan noted
that it is actually the only document where Azerbaijan accepted
the political way of solution of the Karabakh issue. The President
underlined also that the conflict should be solved on the basis of
a fundamental international document.

The President rejected the rumors that Armenia goes for unilateral
concessions. "I have always stated and I want to repeat that the
Nagorno Karabakh issue can be solved if Azerbaijan accepts the right of
the people of Artsakh to self-determination, if Armenia and Karabakh
have a shared border and if the population of Nagorno Karabakh gets
powerful security guarantees. Over the past 17-18 years I have never
used the "unilateral concession" expression."