"KOCHARIAN FRUSTRATED AZERBAIJAN’S HOPES"

29/galust-sahakyan
07:33 pm | March 29, 2010

Politics

"Azerbaijani side tolerated Karabakh’s participation in the talks by
1997 as it saw that Armenian leadership lacked resolution and even
imagined Karabakh in the territory of Azerbaijan. But things changed
after 1998," head of the Republican Party (HHK) Galust Sahakyan
told A1+.

With the arrival of Kocahrian’s "resolute team" in 1998, Azerbaijan
realized that Karabakh can no longer remain in the territory of
Azerbaijan and hence toughened its position and wanted to negotiate
only with Armenia.

In reply to A1+’s remark that Karabakh’s withdrawal from the talks is
thus connected with the name of Robert Kocahrian who is said to have
forced the country out of the talks, Mr. Sahakyan said: "No, I do not
mean that. Karabakh did not participate in earlier meetings of the two
countries’ heads and no document on a trilateral meeting was signed."

When reminded of three-lateral negotiations in Helsinki in 1997
mentioned by Armenia’s ex Foreign Minister Alexander Arzumanian
earlier today, Mr. Sahakyan said: "The negotiations were not held
in the framework of a meeting between the countries’ heads. In
fact, Karabakah participated in the signing of ceasefire in 1994
thus becoming a participant of the talks but to blame Kocahrian for
shouldering the responsibility and representing Karabakh in the talks
is a slander, a provocation. I support the statement issued by the
office of Armenia’s second President Robert Kocharian today."

The statement read that Karabakh withdraw from the negotiations before
Kocahrian came to power.

"The Karabakh conflict cannot be settled without Karabakh’s direct
participation in the talks," concluded Mr. Sahakyan.