WE ARE NOT AFRAID OF FIGHTING, BUT WE DO NOT WANT WAR, ARMENIA’S PRESIDENT DECLARED
Karen Ghazaryan

"Radiolur"
09.02.2009 11:09

The last-day discussion at the 45th Munich Conference focused on
the control of instability in the South Caucasus and the Balkans. The
Caucasus region was again in the center of discussions of international
organizations, analysts and leading mass media. Armenia’s approaches
were presented by President Serzh Sargsyan.

"Any incautious word, any ill-considered step in the region is
pregnant with unpredictable consequences, and the arms race, the
drastic increase of the military budget and belligerent statements
ignite the atmosphere, which inevitably results in actions and
situations, which, as it usually happens, can get out of control,"
Serzh Sargsyan declared.

Some emphasizes of the Armenian President’s speech upset Azerbaijani
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov. The latter expressed his
dissatisfaction, trying to dispute the issue of the territories
controlled by Armenian forces. The matter is that Mammadyarov ascribed
some of the assessments in Serzh Sargsyan’s speech to his country and
attempted to raise the question of the lands under Armenian control.

In response to the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister’s comments, President
Sargsyan first reminded that he did not us the name of any country
in his speech except for Armenia and added: "If the Foreign Minister
of Azerbaijan ascribes the militant rhetoric, the arms race, the
destructive approaches I referred to in my speech to his country,
he is, probably, right. Hi is mistaken in another issue, i.e. when
he constantly tries to dictate conditions to Armenia on behalf
of his country. I think it’s not fair to speak about aggression,
taking into consideration that Azerbaijan launched aggression against
newly-independent Nagorno Karabakh Republic, and the people of Karabakh
had to defend themselves in order not to be annihilated and, naturally,
occupied hundreds of lands from bombs were being dropped every day. Are
people guilty that they managed to survive?"

President Sargsyan asked, adding that now the Armenian side is ready
for negotiations.

"Indeed, let’s sit at the bargaining table, let’s negotiate on
the basis of all internationally accepted standards and achieve a
peaceful solution. And, in general, I think that some politicians
are on a wrong way, thinking that certain means can serve as a ground
to frighten other states, that they can impose something on another
country with a war. I have declared many times and I repeat that we
are not afraid of fighting, but we do not want war."

How did Europe react to President Sargsyan’s speech? Ex-Foreign
Minister of Germany Markus Merkel keeps to the opinion that the
resolution of the Karabakh issue is not very close: "Much has to be
done to come c loser to the resolution of the issue. I think that
not only Azerbaijan’s approach should be changed. The question exits
in Armenia, as well. There should be more public discussions on the
issue, and this opportunity should be provided by mass media," he said.

As for the Armenian-Turkish relations, the German diplomat sees
considerable progress. He said the move inspires great hopes and he
has the same impression from the Munich conference. "Both Armenian
and Turkish leaders are ready to achieve positive results," Markus
Merkel stated.

EU High Commissioner for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier
Solana said: "Armenia is a very important country. I do hope that
the relations with neighbors will improve. I expect that concrete
results in the relations between Armenia and Turkey will be obvious
within months."

The Foreign Minister of Sweden, Karel Bildt shares the opinion,
saying that the positive emphasizes in President Serzh Sargsyan’s
speech inspire optimism. "There are positive steps especially in
the direction of improvement of the Armenian-Turkish relations. We
know that there are small difficulties on the way of normalization of
relations; however, judging from the positive dynamics, we expect that
there will be concrete results. As for the relations with Azerbaijan,
there is no considerable progress here," the Foreign Minister of
Sweden concluded.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Baba can also said talks to normalize
relations with Armenia had advanced during a meeting with Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan in Munich over the weekend.

"We have a platform where we discuss our bilateral problems," Babacan
said at a press conference in Germany.

"We made progress in talks on how to normalize relations," he said.