PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung), Austria
Nov 27 2008

Gourgen Yeghazarian: Only A Legitimate Government in Armenia Can
Guarantee Artsakh Independence

YEREVAN — On November 24th, addressing the ‘Mirror’ press club,
former Deputy Minister of the National Security, Mr. Gourgen
Yeghazarian, member of the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party’s Central
Committee in Armenia conveyed the Party’s belief that nothing was
gained by the recent discussion of the Artsakh situation initiated by
Serzh Sarkisian with Armenian political parties. He stated that the
discussion did not convey any key frameworks being reported in the
press and acted as a mere show for the international community by the
present regime to demonstrate that normalcy is currently prevalent in
Armenia.

In relation to the key frameworks addressed in the press,
Mr. Yeghazarian, specifically asked what exactly Serzh Sarkisian meant
when he stated that there will be a referendum for the issue at
hand. ‘The populace of Artsakh has had for over a decade already
informed the international community of its intention, a de-facto
referendum,’ he said. Mr. Yeghazarian also questioned how a referendum
would work in a peaceful manner, how is it possible to obtain peace
when Azerbaijan could flood Artsakh with 300 thousand Azeris to
counter the free will of the Artsakhzis. Mr Yeghazarian also addressed
to the press club exactly which borders Serzh Sarkisian entails will
be determined through the international negotiations with Azerbaijan,
when Armenia and Azerbaijan already have defined borders, as does
Artsakh. Lastly, he questioned the validity of the guarantees
Mr. Sarkisian expressed as to the people in Artsakh, when they already
have a democratically elected government, with an executive and a
legislative branch.

Mr. Yeghazarian stressed that in order to fully understand the scope
of the latest developments of the Artsakh issue, as well as the recent
invitation of political parties to ‘address’ these developments by the
current Armenian regime, one has to look back to the February 19
Presidential elections in Armenia, and the opposition to the
falsification of the elections by the Armenian people. He stated that
with the falsified election, Mr. Sarkisian does not have any
legitimacy within the country nor with the international community. He
noted that in order for there to be a peaceful internationally backed
resolution for the Artsakh issue with democratic principles of self
determination as guidelines, Armenia must establish itself as a truly
democratic country.

As for the reported Madrid peace accords, Mr. Yeghazarian stresses
that any accord which as a starting point nullifies the democratically
elected government as well as Artsakh’s armed forces should be a
nonstarter.