KARABAKH DISAGREES CATEGORICALLY WITH THE POLICY OF ARMENIA
Nano Arghutyan
Lragir.am
16:00:13 – 25/11/2008
Apparently, the relations between Armenia and Karabakh are becoming
a key issue to the Karabakh settlement. Differences in the stances
of the governments of Armenia and Karabakh are becoming obvious. For
instance, on the day when Serge Sargsyan and the OSCE Minsk Group
co-chairs arrived in Stepanakert, people spontaneously rallied on the
Square of Victory in Stepanakert. About 150 people gathered to ask
Serge Sargsyan on what territories and peacekeepers he agrees with
the Russians and others. They were able to "persuade" people to stop
the rally, and on that day enhanced measures of security were taken
in the city.
And yesterday young people held a round-table meeting in
Stepanakert. It was organized by the youth wing of the ARF
Dashnaktsutyun but the young people participating in it announced
firmly that "the current system of security is the most optimal one
as of today."
Even the president of Karabakh made a statement, obviously
contradicting to the principles of Madrid. He said: "There is no notion
of liberated territories now, there is the territorial integrity of
NKR". Then the leader of the faction of the ruling Democratic Party
of Artsakh Vahram Atanesyan unexpectedly arrived in Yerevan and held a
news conference, making several sensational statements. In particular,
he said the stances of Armenia and Karabakh have always differed.
On the whole, the moods in Karabakh have changed considerably over the
past month. If people used to say that the Armenian government will
never make a deal and will never give up on the interests of Karabakh,
now after the public speeches of Serge Sargsyan there are worries
that the Armenian government may agree to yield the territories. And
they talk about this everywhere, in shops, at work, at home, even in
the parliament.
In their recent visit the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs suddenly decided
to meet with the Karabakh parliament members. They did it late
in the evening, in a session behind closed doors. We have learned
that the Karabakh parliament members presented harsh criticism to
the co-chairs. They stated to defy the principles of Madrid, and
that all those arrangements behind the back of Karabakh are empty
talks, that Karabakh is not afraid of war and is ready to protect
its interests. The co-chairs listened to all that but noted that the
accusations should not be addressed to them. They are merely mediators
between the presidents and they only try to bring their stances
closer. The co-chairs also pointed to those who should be accused. It
is the government of Armenia, particularly Robert Kocharyan, who took
up the mission of representing Karabakh in the talks. It is the people
of Karabakh who allowed him to do that, who were silent for 10 years,
although it could have stated at least once not to trust Armenia. It
is the government of Armenia who tell the mediators they can have the
people of Karabakh accept any settlement. And the mediators stated
this openly and straightforwardly, though on the condition that it
would not be published.
Meanwhile, the public already knows about it. The public even knows
that the controversies between the governments of Armenia and Karabakh
may favor the international mediators. However, this does not change
the situation. There is no need to allow the talks to pursue the path
for a resolution which does not favor the Armenian people out of the
fear that someone may benefit from controversies.
The only way out of this situation may be the rejection of Armenia to
participate in the talks and to return the authority of Karabakh. In
case it is not done voluntarily, at some moment they will be forced
to do that under the pressure of Karabakh. Because in Karabakh they
disagree with the policy of Armenia on the talks.