CHATHAM HOUSE EXPERT: SERZH SARGSYAN’S SPEECH WAS SURPRISING TO ME
T. Teymur Today.Az

Today
61425.html
Feb 12 2010
Azerbaijan

Speaking of Armenian President’s speech at the Chatham House British
Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House expert,
professorial Fellow in International Relations at Oxford University S.

Neil MacFarlane said that the speech itself will not influence the
Armenian-Turkish negotiations.

According MacFarlane, Sargsyan’s speech will not have any effect on
the negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as well.

"The tone of the speech was somewhat surprising for me, but, regarding
Karabakh, both sides have accompanied efforts to find a solution
with strong statements of their interests and preferences. Both
presidents have a difficult time balancing the need to negotiate
against the expectations of domestic constituencies, many of whom
resist compromise," MacFarlane said.

"Regarding Turkey, again I don’t think this speech changes much. We
all knew ratification would be hard. Normalization without conditions
would be difficult for Turkey. Conditions concerning Karabakh would
be difficult for Armenia. And neither side appears willing to accept
significant domestic political risk on the issue of normalization.

This speech doesn’t change that," he pointed out.