FREEDOM OF TOPIC FOR PRESIDENTS
HAKOB BADALYAN
LRAGIR.AM
12:53:58 – 08/06/2009
The OSCE Minks group Co-Chairs issued their regular statement,
which was spread after Sargsyan-Aliyev meeting and justified it. For
attaching some kind of particular luster to the meeting, they stated
that the presidents agreed to open a "main" topic within the frameworks
of the negotiations. The Co-Chairs naturally did not mention it,
because of the simple reason that there is not such a topic, but
there is only some need to attach significance to the Sargsyan –
Aliyev meetings.
It is also natural that the Minsk group countries will throw Sargsyan
and Aliyev a topic to present to their societies as inventive freedom
of their own gains during the negotiation. We may only guess how
Sargsyan and Aliyev will use this freedom.
For example, Aliyev will tell his public that the new topic concerns
not only the released areas but also the version of ceding Zangezur
to Azerbaijan as a recompense for keeping the released areas for so
many years. The Azerbaijani public is natural to be happy and to be
once more sure that it did right to give the right to Aliyev to hold
the office of president for life, as during each period of presidency,
Aliyev will open a new "topic" on ceding a new region of Armenia to
Azerbaijan. Moreover, after this the Azerbaijani people, will decide
that Aliyev not only has the right to be the president of Azerbaijan
for life, but also he has no right to think of not being the president.
Serge Sargsyan, naturally, will present to the Armenian society, that
the new "topic" concerns the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, which will be
discussed without the precondition of returning the territories. But
the Armenian society will not manage to be happy and think of not
giving Serge Sargsyan the right to hold his office for life, but
at least until the Nagorno-Karabakh issue is settled, when it will
become clear that the question on the status without the precondition
to return the territories is being discussed by the simple reason,
that they made a decision to return the territories despite everything,
and this decision is not a condition or a precondition.
Anyway, usually, especially in the latest period, everything is this
way in the Armenian foreign policy, almost all the Armenian statements
are renounced by everyone. And probably it is only the Armenian side
to refuse the Azerbaijani statements.
But, we do not need to make such conclusions so soon. After all,
it is not understandable form the Minsk group statement whether
the new topic, which stems from the Madrid principles, concerns
Nagorno-Karabakh issue or not. This topic may be related to a
completely different thing, as it stems from the principles of
Madrid. The authors of the Madrid principles may turn out to be
so long-sighted to include a reserve topic for the Co-Chairs to
have something to dwell on when the negotiation process will meet
a deadlock.