HOVANESSIAN STRESSES URGENCY OF RESETTLING LIBERATED TERRITORIES

anessian-stresses-urgency-of-resettling-liberated- territories/

YEREVAN -The urgency to resettle the liberated territories surrounding
the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic was a topic of heated discussion Thursday
during a weekly parliamentary roundtable with Armenia’s Prime Minister
Tigran Sargsyan.

Discussion on the issue began when Vahan Hovanessian, the leader of
the Armenian Revolutionary Federation’s parliamentary bloc, asked
the Prime Minister about the status of resettlement efforts in the
liberated territories. Hovanessian emphasized that the absence of
Armenian residents in that area was "widening the appetites of Turkey
and Azerbaijan" as talks to normalize relations with Ankara continue.

In response, Sargsyan reiterated the oft-repeated position of the
Armenian authorities that Turkey-Armenia discussions were advancing
without preconditions.

Sargsyan, however, said that any agreement would require the
parliament’s approval before being implemented. "This process is
going to be a public one," he said, referring to the "roadmap"
agreement. "We will defend our principles."

"Naturally, we have to be more active and we can never forget the
Genocide issue and other matters related to the Armenian Cause,"
added Sargsyan.

The prime minister insisted that Karabakh will always be an important
priority in Armenia’s economic, foreign and domestic policies and as
a result the economic development of Karabakh will always be part of
Armenia’s governmental programs.

"The development of all facets of [life] Karabakh should be
accelerated, in order to create more enhanced living and growth
conditions," said Sargsyan, adding that the resettlement issue was
a constant topic of discussion with the Karabakh president and prime
minister.

Hovenessian expressed hope that the prime minister’s statements would
become reality in the near future. He also suggested the government
adopt two approaches to the Armenia-Turkey process, namely for
Yerevan to insist that instead of discussing a possible opening of
the border, Armenia should discuss offering a corridor to Turkey,
since when discussing the border issue, Turkey always considers the
current borders.

Hovanessian also emphasized the importance of a timeline in these
talks, citing the president’s own statements that this process cannot
last for years.

"How long is this process going to last? Until the soccer match? Or,
do we have to wait for Erdogan to make an announcement in Yerevan
that they have preconditions, which is the Karabakh issue," said
Hovanessian.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress