news.az, Azerbaijan
Jan 23 2010

I expect Armenia to be constructive at Sochi presidential meeting, MP
Sat 23 January 2010 | 06:42 GMT Text size:

Anar Mammadkhanov News.Az interviews Anar Mammadkhanov, Azerbaijani MP.

The next round of talks between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and
Armenian Serzh Sargsyan will be held under Russia’s Dmitri Medvedev’s
mediation in Sochi soon. What do you expect from this meeting?

I expect Armenia to demonstrate constructivism. It must understand
that childish games have already ended. The things Armenia has
recently been dealing with resemble a game in a sander. I think if the
Russian president is trying to be a mediator for the second time, some
results are possible.

Armenian FM Edward Nalbandyan said he does not expect any significant
progress in the Karabakh conflict settlement in 2010. What can you say
about this statement considering the fact that it was voiced in
anticipation of the presidential meeting?

I can say that such a statement gives negative characteristics to
Nalbandyan, as the foreign minister. He seems to be willing to be a
minister for long and not to do anything like his forerunner Vardan
Oskanyan and then to tell people about his heroism.

Doesn’t this statement by the Armenian foreign minister make the Sochi
presidential meeting senseless?

First of all, in any case we should demonstrate the nonconstructivism
of the Armenian side to the world. Second, I think Nalbandyan’s
statement does not make the Sochi meeting senseless as it was
seemingly done for the inner audience to keep it relaxed. But if the
Armenian leaders have self-respect, they must understand that the
Azerbaijani side will not stand this for another year.

The chairmanship in OSCE has passed to Kazakhstan this year. Can this
fact have any impact on the Karabakh conflict settlement?

I hope so. I hope Kazakhstan’s chairmanship in OSCE will promote the
positive settlement of the conflict. But I cannot state this for sure.

Armenia is threatening to frustrate the negotiation process with
Turkey on normalization of relations complaining about Ankara’s
nonconstructiveness. Who do you think will lose more in the result?

Well, let them frustrate it. This normalization is necessary more to
Armenia than to Turkey. Armenia is a geographical deadlock, therefore,
it is more interested in normalization. Turkey has access to three
seas and it does not need Armenia. Turkey has made a great favor by
initiating negotiations with Armenians while Armenia started a
dishonest game in the style peculiar of it. It is playing blatantly to
one’s face. By doing so, Armenians have again astonished the world by
their disrespect to their own signatures. I think Armenians understand
that they are not worthy of anything as a state. Therefore, I think
they can state whatever they want. The fact is that Turkey is a big
and economically, politically and militarily strong country and to
play with it one should be as dull-witted as the ruling elite of
Armenia. In this case, I think the supreme leadership of Armenia acts
at least foolishly.

Ankara has accused Yerevan that the decision of the Constitutional
Court of Armenia on the Armenian-Turkish protocols contains
prerequisites. Are these accusations substantiated considering the
fact that some experts view the Turkish claims as aimed at protracting
the ratification of these protocols in their parliament?

I think Turkey is absolutely right in this cause. Armenians have
started to interpret the text of the protocols differently in the
Constitutional Court. How else could Turkey react to it? The protocols
were not to be considered in the Constitutional Court. The
Constitutional Court has nothing to do with a political decision.
Meanwhile, the Constitutional Court has started to interpret
everything in its own way. Imagine that the Constitutional Court of
Russia and the US Supreme Court give their conclusions on the treaty
to cut nuclear armament. This is an absurd.

Leyla Tagiyeva
News.Az