SERGE SARGSYAN, DURING HIS VISIT TO SYRIA, MADE A QUITE OPEN STATEMENT CONCERNING THE SETTLEMENT OF THE NKR ISSUE.

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11:39:28 – 24/03/2010

"To strengthen the security, a security zone was set up around
Karabakh. This zone is not populated and is not used, despite the
statements of Azerbaijan. As soon as the Karabakh people have
the opportunity to exercise their right to self-determination
and development, and functional mechanisms will be established,
the Armenian side may consider as a compromise, the return of the
regions surrounding Karabakh to Azerbaijan, while maintaining a
corridor between Armenia and Karabakh", Serge Sargsyan stated in an
interview with the Syrian Al Watan.

Statement by Serge Sargsyan did not become a sensation, because in
the years of his tenure as defense minister, during the hearings in
the Armenian parliament on the Karabakh issue, he shared such ideas,
although with a less clear text. He then stated that during the war,
speaking to soldiers, he used to say that the task is not to expand
our territory, but to create a security belt, which then would become
a subject of negotiation.

Of course, many of soldiers stated after that no one had ever told them
such a thing and no one could ever say, because they were fighting
for the release of those territories at the cost of their lives. But
the case is that Serge Sargsyan voiced his opinion on the territories
4-5 years ago, and overall, the thought told Al Watan is not news.

The whole question is how the NKR government is going to respond to
that statement, which declares that they can discuss the consequences
of the conflict, including the territories, only after the status
issue is solved. How the NKR is going to respond considering the fact
that the NKR Constitution set the liberated territories as part of
the NKR? It turns out that in his interview, the President of Armenia
encroach on the Constitution of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, and
considered himself entitled to dispose the territories which are under
the jurisdiction of another country. If the Armenian government may be
so disrespectful towards the NKR Constitution in an interview, what
could we expect from other countries? Will the Karabakh authorities
give answers to these questions?

HAKOB BADALYAN