NAGORNO-KARABAKH’S STATUS QUO NOT FOR EVER, EU SPECIAL REP STATES

News.am
Nov 2 2009
Armenia

Nagorno-Karabakh cannot retain its status quo for ever, Peter
Semneby, EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus stated
in his interview with the Vremya Novostey (Times of News) newspaper
(Russia). He added that the Armenian authorities are well aware of
this fact, and favorable conditions are necessary for them to deal
with the Nagorno-Karabakh problem as well.

Under the circumstances, when the Armenian authorities are facing
numerous problems at a time, the normalization affords them the
opportunities for focusing on further complicated issues, Semneby
said. According to him, the improvement of Armenian-Turkish relations
will create new favorable conditions for settling the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict.

As regards the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides’ readiness for
concessions in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, Semneby pointed out
that the Madrid Principles, which became known after the G8 meeting,
contain rather clear definitions.

The EU Special Representative stressed that the most serious problems
are in details, but general principles for both the sides to make
concessions are clear. The most complicated issues, namely the ones
related to Nagorno-Karabakh’s status, are postponed for an indefinite
period, Semneby said.

Responding to a remark that the results of referendum on the status
of Nagorno-Karabakh may prove unacceptable to official Yerevan,
Semneby said that the sides have made much progress in discussing
the mechanisms. He expressed the confidence that further progress is
possible if favorable conditions are created.

Addressing the Armenian-Turkish rapprochement, Semneby pointed out
that he does not expect an explosion inside Armenia.

According to him, it is mostly the Armenians residing outside Armenia
that are against the rapprochement, which is a serious problem for
the Armenian authorities: the Diaspora plays a great role for Armenia
and shows varied attitudes to the issue. So it is necessary that
the Diaspora take into account the interests of Armenian residing
in Armenia.