EDWARD NALBANDIAN: I TOLD THE TRUTH

news.am
Dec 2 2009
Armenia

After Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers, Edward Nalbandian
and Elmar Mammadyarov, made speeches at the conference of the OSCE
Foreign Ministers’ Council, the RA Foreign Minister answered Armenian
journalists’ questions, reported Radio Liberty.

Responding to a remark that both the Ministers made strongly worded
statements while speaking at the conference, Nalbandian said: "I
told the truth. A country violating the agreements reached by the
OSCE in the region and making bellicose statements calls its real
intentions in question. I stated that they are trying to misrepresent
the essence of both the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and that of the
negotiations. It is true… What we have been stating has never run
counter to the mediators’ statements.

"Over months we have been stating that we are conducting negotiations
on the basis of the Madrid Principles, Azerbaijan has been claiming
that such a document has never existed… Finally, the existence
of the document was proved, and the fact was confirmed in both the
Moscow and the Helsinki statements," Nalbandian said. The statements
made at the Helsinki ministerial conference played an important role
in further negotiations, as we welcomed them. First of all, it was
a statement by the ministers of 56 states with the participation of
Armenia and Azerbaijan. They did not exercise their right of veto,
but immediately afterwards turned the statement upside down and
began making statements running counter to the Helsinki statement. A
statement by the Foreign Ministers of the three Co-Chairing countries
in a similar vein was approved there as well. The European Union’s
statement was in a similar vein as well. The three statements proved to
be landmarks in the negotiations. In the statements approved yesterday
and today Azerbaijan has for the first time confirmed the principle
of nations’ right to self-determination and the principle of non-use
of force and of no menace," the RA Foreign Minister stated.

As to whether it is time for decisions, Nalbandian said: "It is
high time for moving forward. The fact is that we are now discussing
only some of the numerous Madrid principles. There exist particular
approaches to particular points. I would say that they do not even
constitute a third of the principles incorporated in the document. It
is a long way to pass. We are determined to follow it, continue the
negotiations and maintain the positive dynamics of the recent period
due to the two Presidents’ meetings."

Responding to a question about agreements on further negotiations,
the RA Foreign Minister stated that no specific agreements have yet
been reached. The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs may arrive in the region
in the immediate future.

"At each meeting we underline the need for Nagorno-Karabakh’s
immediate involvement in the negotiations, as any agreement is
impossible to reach without Nagorno-Karabakh involvement. It is the
problem of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan, while Armenia is trying to
facilitate the process and held find a solution," stated the Armenian
Foreign Minister.

Nalbandian also said that the Nagorno-Karabakh problem was not
discussed at his meeting with the Turkish Foreign Minister. "Any
attempts to link the two processes, the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process
and the Armenia-Turkey normalization process, will only be to the
detriment of both."