THE QUESTION IS WHAT NALBANDYAN WANTS AND WHAT THE KARABAKHI PEOPLE NEED
NANO ARGHUTYAN
LRAGIR.AM
13:09:13 – 29/04/2009
The OSCE Minsk group co-chairs stated that the stances of the sides
in connection with the Nagorno-Karabakh issue settlement have a little
approached. During yesterday’s press conference, they reiterated about
Ilham Aliyev’s "unprecedented" statements on April 28, in Moscow,
hinting that the stances approached due to the concessions by the
Azerbaijani party. Apparently, they even got surprised why the
Armenian journalists did not ask them questions in connection with
Aliyev’s statements which the co-chairs consider crucial. Probably,
they convened the press conference in order to speak about the
"concessions" of Azerbaijan.
Remind that Ilham Aliyev, in his interview with the Vesti news
program and ITAR-TASS agency, said that "the stances of Azerbaijan
include also the preservation of security of those people living in
Nagorno-Karabakh and questions regarding the territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan. We realize the importance of the ties of Armenia and
Nagorno-Karabakh for the Armenian people. In this case, we do not
see any problem. And questions relating to the Lachin corridor may
be effectively settled", stated Aliyev.
In fact, the co-chairs accepted of having persuaded Aliyev incline
towards the principles proposed by the mediators. According to the
American co-chair Mathew Bryza, now the settlement will be led by 3
principles of the agreement of Helsinki- territorial integrity, right
for self-determination and immediate forces. True, yesterday during the
press conference, the co-chairs did not mention the third "concession"
of Ilham Aliyev – Lachin. As it is know, before, the co-chairs had
announced that the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents reached an
agreement on the principles of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue settlement,
and only the problem of Lachin was unsolved. Now, Aliyev stated that
Azerbaijan is ready to "cede" Lachin to Armenia, consequently, there
is no unsolved question. And, this fact determines the optimism of
the co-chairs who stated that the meeting of the presidents Sargsyan
and Aliyev on May 7 in Prague may be "extremely constructive".
The Armenian authorities state that both processes relating to the
Armenian and Turkish relations and the Nagorno-Karabakh issue are being
carried out in accordance with the Armenian interests. "Everything is
going as we wanted", stated Edward Nalbandyan. The question is what
Nalbandyan wants and what the Karabakhi people need. And the Karabakhi
people insist that Ilham Aliyev’s "guarantees" on the security cannot
be taken seriously. "If Bernard Fassier believes these guarantees we
propose him moving to the "secure" Karabakh with his family. We can
offer him a very good post in the NKR foreign ministry considering his
experience," we were told in the NKR foreign policy department. Bernard
Fassier could settle in Lachin the security of which will probably
be ensured by Azerbaijan and Turkey too.
The official figures, the political parties and the non-governmental
organization of Nagorno-Karabakh stated that the "principles of Madrid"
proposed by the mediators contradict the Karabakhi interests. Moreover,
unlike Armenia, where the Dashnaktsutyun party announced its
disagreement with the Armenian government in connection with the
Armenian and Turkish relations normalization and the Nagorno-Karabakh
issue and left the coalition, the Karabakhi Dashnaktsutyun does not
have any problems with the government. They are going to defend the
national interests together. And they evaluate the things soberly
without being influenced by the euphoria of the statements of the
Armenian government that everything is going well. What is there of
good that Nagorno-Karabakh will have a status in case the normal vital
functions and security cannot be provided there? This is worthwhile
being discussed and not the useless discussions that the Armenian and
Turkish relations normalization is determined by the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict solution. What difference does it really make?