AZERI OFFICIAL CHIDES ARMENIA’S LEADERSHIP
Asbarez
/04/azeri-official-chides-armenia%e2%80%99s-leader ship/
Aug 4, 2009
BAKU-Azerbaijan’s chief presidential foreign policy adviser claimed
that Armenia’s current leadership "often changes its position" and
is "not yet daring to take serious steps" in the peace talks. He
also said the mediating powers have stepped up their pressure on the
Armenian side due to a number of factors, notably the Turkish-Armenian
rapprochement.
Azeri President Ilham Aliyev’s chief foreign policy aide Novruz
Mammadov, in an extensive interview with the APA news agency claimed
that Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian "has no concrete logical
position on the solution to the [Nagorno-Karabakh] conflict and
relations with the neighbor country."
Mammadov accused the Armenian president of changing his mind.
"How can it be that the Turkish president visited Armenia, but he
[Sarskian] says that he will not visit Turkey. It’s like a game,"
added Mammadov.
In discussing the Karabakh conflict, Mammadov said the basic principles
of resolving the conflict favored by international mediators preclude
international recognition of Karabakh’s independence.
"As is pointed out in the ‘Madrid principles’ and as the president of
Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated in his speeches, the conflict can
be resolved only within the framework of the country’s territorial
integrity," Mammadov said. He said future agreements on Karabakh’s
status envisioned by the proposed settlement would amount to clarifying
the extent of the Karabakh’s autonomy within Azerbaijan.
The claims sharply contrast with Armenian officials’ interpretation
of the basic principles which the U.S., French and Russian co-chairs
of the OSCE Minsk Group formally proposed in Madrid in November
2007. According to them, Karabakh’s population would be able to
vote for independence, reunification with Armenia or return under
Azerbaijani in a future referendum to be held years after the
liberation of the Armenian-occupied territories around Karabakh.
The mediators themselves have refused to elaborate on the proposed vote
in their public pronouncements, saying that its practical modalities
have yet to be agreed upon. In a July 10 joint statement, the U.S.,
Russian and French presidents said only that Karabakh’s status will
be determined "through a legally binding expression of will."
The mediators are expected to present the conflicting parties with what
they call an "updated version" of the Madrid principles soon. Whether
or not they plan to make significant changes in the document, first
discussed by Aliyev and Armenia’s former President Robert Kocharian,
remains to be seen.