ARMENIAN EXPERT SAYS SEPARATIST KARABAKH NEGLECTED IN TALKS WITH AZERBAIJAN

Aravot
Jan 13 2009
Armenia

Political experts Manvel Sargsyan and Yervand Bozoyan discussed
issues connected with the Karabakh settlement and the possibility
of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe depriving the
Armenian delegation of its right to vote at its January session.

Both experts believe that settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict
is very complicated. According to Manvel Sargsyan, Nagornyy Karabakh
is not a side of the conflict at present and, what is more, it stopped
being a factor, because the Armenian government wished so 10 years
ago. He believes that at present the Karabakh government is obeying
the orders of the Armenian government. The expert said that Karabakh
is perceived as such even in the OSCE Minsk Group.

"Nagornyy Karabakh cannot agree or disagree with anything during the
negotiations as no one takes it into consideration", Sargsyan said. He
believes that the Karabakh government does not express the opinion of
the people and "the Karabakh public does not have alternative sources
of information, and is suppressed by the army. All this leads to a
situation when the Artsakh [Karabakh] people perceive the reality in
a wrong way and react inadequately".

Political expert Yervand Bozoyan had a different opinion. He said
that although the Karabakh issue is quite complicated, this does
not mean that Karabakh does not exist as a factor and that the
Karabakh government is obedient to the Armenian one. He believes
it is important that the public be a part of these processes and
the people will say their decisive word at the fateful moment for
the country. Both experts agree that the Karabakh conflict will be
settled only when, besides Armenia and Azerbaijan, the OSCE Minsk
Group co-chair countries, as well as Iran and Turkey, find a common
denominator regarding the matter.

Speaking about the fate of the Armenian delegation in PACE, Bozoyan
said it is unlikely that the Armenian delegation will lose its right of
vote, at the same time emphasizing that application of this sanction
would be a great blow to Armenia: "The Armenian government should
send real messages to Europe that it will go by the path of real
reforms". Answering the question of journalists on why the government
is so calm, the expert said the government shows that it is calm to
conceal its anxiety.

Manvel Sargsyan recalled the statement of Galust Sahakyan, the leader
of the [ruling] Republican Party of Armenia faction, in this context
:"If Europe deprives us of vote, we will move towards the Muslim
world." As opposed to Bozoyan, who dismissed the statement as not
serious, Manvel Sargsyan believes that this is not only Galustyan’s
opinion but also that of the government, which will start searching
for money in other places, even in the Muslim world, in case it gets
shut out of Europe. The political expert said: "The issue for the
government is just finding money."