‘WE ARE SEARCHING FOR LONG-TERM SOLUTIONS,’ SAYS SERZH SARGSYAN
Tert
Oct 23 2009
Armenia
During an interview with Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh public
television, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan referred to Azerbaijan
President Ilham Aliyev’s latest announcements.
Asked by the interviewer for his comments in response to Aliyev’s
statement that agreements have been reached upon to return the
territories adjacent to Karabakh, Sargsyan said:
"I have referred to that issue and I have nothing to add at this time.
However, I would like to stress once more that we approach the
entire negotiating process quite seriously and responsibly. There
is not a more concerned party than Nagorno-Karakh or the people of
Nagorno-Karabakh. And it is Nagorno-Karabakh itself that wishes for
that conflict to be solved."
He noted, "We are searching for long-term solutions; solutions that
will actually bring about peace and that will be long-lasting."
"Of course, in any negotiation, each side wishes to derive the
maximum possible benefit, but what I don’t understand is when during
the negotiating process, one side wishes to receive everything,
and is guided by the slogan ‘everything will come to me.’ In such
circumstances, negotiations for that side can be unpleasant and
results from the negotiations may not be satisfactory, but that’s
not our fault.
"When our colleagues in the negotiating process reach the conclusion
that there must be a logical solution, then those solutions can be
found easily. When they approach the issue realistically, and apart
from making declarations, truly wish to solve the issue, then the issue
will be resolved. Threatening or announcing disappointments after
negotiations doesn’t bring the final resolution any closer. On the
contrary, that disrupts the negotiating process; it increases distrust.
"When they say that not everything has been negotiated, if we
haven’t reached an agreement on all points, everything is said with
[these statements]. I believe it would be right that we, as well as
Azerbaijan, focus our efforts on the current phase of negotiations,
and not attempt to cut out sections from prior negotiations and present
[those] to our own audience," announced Sargsyan.