Yerevan June 9
Mariana Mkrtchyan. In the office of the second president of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, responded to the statement of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made from the rostrum in the parliament regarding the inferiority of the negotiation process on the Karabakh settlement in connection with the non-participation of Artsakh in them.
Thus, the head of the office of the second president of Armenia Victor Soghomonyan reacting to this statement of Pashinyan reminded that the fact that Artsakh was a full-fledged party to the conflict was fixed at the OSCE summit in Budapest in 1994, and until 1998 the negotiation process proceeded precisely in this format. "The representatives of Armenia also negotiated with the property of Artsakh since 1998. Another question was whether it was right or wrong, but there were reasons for this: Robert Kocharyan was the elected president of Nagorno-Karabakh before coming to Armenia, and Serge Sargsyan is one of the organizers of the movement Therefore, both of them could either have a mandate to negotiate on behalf of Nagorno-Karabakh, regardless of how we treat it, I can not do the same," Soghomonyan stressed, reports 2rd.am.
Pashinyan's office was reminded in the office of the second president of Armenia that Artsakh ceased to participate in direct negotiations, not in 1998, but in 1996, when the Armenian authorities for some reason agreed to this. Soghomonyan stressed that he personally published relevant historical materials on this occasion several times.
At the same time, the head of the office of the second president stated that in past years the process of the conflict settlement was carried out in three planes: two negotiation processes and efforts to maintain the ceasefire through monitoring. "Nagorno-Karabakh was directly involved in the mediation efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs and in the activities of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman- in-Office, Artsakh was not directly involved in the negotiations in the format of the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, where the President of Armenia defended the interests of Artsakh, coordinating his actions with the President of Artsakh. For 10 years, Robert Kocharyan having the status of the first president of the Artsakh, nevertheless categorically refused to replace the Artsakh authorities in the format of meetings of the presidents. it was rumored that nothing could be considered finalized until Karabakh gave its consent, and the final document should be ratified by NKR representatives as well. "So, Artsakh is actually involved in the negotiation process, although not in full form," stressed Soghomonyan.
He welcomed the aspirations of the new Armenian authorities, to make the Artsakh a participant in the existing format of negotiations between the presidents. According to Soghomonyan, it is absolutely necessary to strive for the full and direct participation of Stepanakert in all processes, and the best of them will be the format of direct negotiations between the Artsakh and Azerbaijan, which will allow the field to clearly reflect the essence of the conflict. "We have repeatedly talked about this, it's another matter how far this is being achieved, at least for today, and another question is the consequences of the factual refusal of the Armenian authorities to participate in the peace talks," Soghomonyan concluded.
It should be noted that on June 7, during the presentation of the new government's program in the country's parliament, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, referring to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said that Armenia will undoubtedly remain the main guarantor of Artsakh's security (the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is a red). He once again confirmed the previously expressed approach on the need to involve Artsakh in the negotiation process. According to him, the participation of Karabakh in the negotiations was approved at the OSCE summit in Budapest in 1994. "After the year of 1998, the representatives of Armenia held talks on behalf of Karabakh, Robert Kocharyan was formerly the President of Karabakh, and Serzh Sargsyan was one of the organizers of the self-defense of Karabakh, therefore, they could either have a mandate for negotiations, regardless of how we treated it ", reminded Pashinyan, saying that he can not ascribe such powers to himself.
"There are no legal or moral grounds for this, the people of Karabakh do not participate in the formation of power in Armenia, it has its own government and president," Pashinyan said. At the same time, he called the arguments that the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh should participate in the negotiations unjustified because they came to Azerbaijan and became its citizens. "So, the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev is holding talks on their behalf, as they participated in the elections, while the residents of Karabakh did not elect the power of Armenia, and the Armenian authorities can not represent them." They should have their own voice, "the prime minister said. , adding that he is ready for talks with Ilham Aliyev within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group. "But these negotiations should become more effective, and for this it is necessary that the agreements reached do not remain on paper," Nikol Pashinyan added.