AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
Aug 25 2009

Yerevan levels claims on Garabagh

25-08-2009 22:49:56

Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Savarsh Kocharian has claimed that
Azeris driven out of Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh, an Azerbaijani region
under Armenian occupation, should recognize the so-called independence
of the separatist regime to be able to return home.
Kocharian told Russian Echo Moskvi radio station that, if holding a
referendum to determine the status of the region is offered as a
compromise in peace talks, the people who lived there before are to
fully participate in the vote. Moreover, Azeris are to exercise their
suffrage from their current places of residence, Kocharian alleged.
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the
signing of a cease-fire in 1994, but Armenia continues to occupy Upper
Garabagh and seven adjacent Azerbaijani districts. Though the
separatist regime in Upper Garabagh declared so-called independence in
1991, this “independence“, which blatantly tramples on international
law, has not been recognized by the world community to date.
According to Kocharian, Armenia has not recognized the
“independence“ of Upper Garabagh because this could adversely affect
ongoing talks with Azerbaijan.
“Armenia adheres to a stance that, so long as there are co-chairs [of
the OSCE Minsk Group brokering the conflict settlement] and
negotiations continue, we should not resolutely put forth our
position. Second, naturally, our objective is recognition of Upper
Garabagh not by Armenia, but by the world community.“
At the same time, Kocharian did not rule out its possible recognition
by Yerevan in the future. “This can never be ruled out. But we are
proceeding according to the logic of the negotiating process. If
Azerbaijan`s stance causes a deadlock in talks, this is not ruled out
at all,“ he maintained.
He went as far as saying that the Garabagh conflict had emerged due to
what he called Azerbaijan`s militarist policy. He claimed that Baku is
still seeking to resolve the problem through military action.
The deputy minister also alleged that serviceman of the separatist
regime, not Armenia, fought in the Garabagh war.
Further, Kocharian answered inconsistently to a journalist asking
“what step will Armenia take if war erupts?“, saying “the one it
took in the 1990s.“
Also, the Armenian official maintained that no UN resolutions are in
place on Armenian pullout from the occupied Azerbaijani territories,
stressing the alleged importance of drawing the separatist regime to
peace talks.
Elkhan Polukhov, the spokesman for the Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry,
has termed the statement as “fiction“, warning that such utterances,
made by Yerevan every now and then, do nothing to move forward peace
talks.
“It appears surprising and curious to us that an individual who has
not been involved in any stage of the negotiating process and is
unaware of the details is making such statements. What is he basing
them upon? Azerbaijan`s territorial integrity is recognized in all
international resolutions and laws, and they call for a withdrawal of
the Armenian armed forces from Azerbaijan`s occupied territories and a
return of the displaced persons to their homes.“