SARKISIAN CALLS FOR FIRM GUARANTEES FOR KARABAKH SELF-DETERMINATION

Asbarez
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Mar 23rd, 2010

YEREVAN (Combined Sources)-Only after firm guarantees of security and
self-determination for the people of Nagorno-Karabakh can Armenia
consider the return of the liberated territories as envisioned by
the so-called Madrid Principles, said President Serzh Sarkisian Monday.

While on an official visit to Syria, Sarkisian spoke to the Al-Wattan
newspaper, outlining Armenia’s position on the Karabakh conflict,
as well as Armenia-Turkey relations.

"When the people of Karabakh get a true chance to realize their right
to self-determination and mechanisms for security and development
are created, then in compromise the Armenian side can consider the
return of the regions around Karabakh, preserving the corridor linking
Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia," said Sarkisian.

He spoke of the importance for mutual concessions in the peace process,
explaining that "unilateral concessions will deepen the existing
dangers and threats."

Sarkisian warned that continued military threats from Azerbaijan are
hampering efforts to reach a comprehensive peace deal, adding that
while Azerbaijan announced that it was in favor of the revised Madrid
Principles, it was doing so under its own interpretations.

Sarkisian also suggested that Turkey’s reluctance to unconditionally
normalize relations with Armenia is only facilitating a broader
international recognition of the Armenian genocide.

"One thing is clear to me. The longer the process of normalizing
our relations [with Turkey] lasts, the larger the number of states
adopting such resolutions may become," said Sarkisian when asked to
comment about the passage, by the House Foreign Affairs Committee,
of the Armenian Genocide resolution.

Yerevan has welcomed the Congressional effort as well as the passage
of a similar resolution by the parliament in Sweden.

"I don’t find right attempts to link that [normalization] process
with the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by other countries,"
said Sarkisian, who added that official Yerevan has not placed the
recognition of the Genocide as a precondition for normalizing relations
with Turkey.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress