SERGEI SHAKARYANTS – MINSK GROUP WANTS US TO RETURN SHUSHI TOO
Natasha Harutyunyan

s/
2009/08/12 | 14:52

Politics

At a press conference held today, political commentator Sergei
Shakaryants touched on the recent comments of Minsk Group Co-chair
Matthew Bryza in Tzaghkadzor

"What does he have in mind when he speaks about the territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan? For the past four years I have been asking
them to specify the seven regions they keep mentioning. What regions
are they referring to?" asked Mr. Shakaryants.

"Do they have Shushi in mind as well? They’ve always answered in
riddles. But based on the fact that they’ve argued that the demographic
situation in Karabakh must be restored according to the last Soviet
census, we can only infer that they argue that Armenians must return
Shushi as well," Mr. Shakaryants argued.

He also mentioned that the interim status being discussed for Karabakh
is fraught with uncertainty and danger given that such a status
doesn’t always lead to complete independence. The analyst stated that
oftentimes it has come to mean the decimation of the local populace.

Mr. Shakaryants also commented that the only positive result of the
revised Madrid Principles is that the final status of Karabakh has
been fixed outside the state framework of Azerbaijan.

"We can assert this quite forcefully. The only positive development is
that the will of the Artsakh people will be respected. All the other
points are totally negative for Armenia and Artsakh because they
always contain threats. The biggest threat is the demographic one;
if we sign any document allowing for the return of just 1,000 Turks
to Karabakh," Mr. Shakaryants said.