WHY ALAIN DELETROZ DESCRIBED SERGE SARGSYAN AS A WISE POLITICIAN
KarabakhOpen
17-03-2008 16:21:55
The settlement of conflicts, including the Karabakh conflict, is
gradually shifted to the level of "recognize – not recognize". In
speaking about one unrecognized state or another they no longer discuss
legal, historical, let alone moral and other aspects. There is real
politics – definite interests, levers and steps. Unfortunately,
the Armenian diplomacy sets forward diplomatic imitation to real
politics. And the result is obvious – over the past few days a number
of representatives of influential structures have made it clear
that nobody is going to recognize the independence of NKR. When a
country declares independence, its legal status is not changed by
the declaration but the number of countries which recognize it and
accept the new states into international organizations, said the
president of the International Crisis Group Alain Deletroz. He said
he does not see a significant bloc other than the European Union
ready to recognize the independence of one region or another and
provide significant human and financial resources to help the new
state survive and prosper. He said among the first statements on the
recognition of the declaration of independence of Kosovo one amazed him
with its wisdom. The new president of Armenia Serge Sargsyan, instead
of using the event which will probably be used by part of political
forces of the country, analyzed with dignity and restraint the real
significance of the precedent of Kosovo for the South Caucasus. The
declaration of independence of Kosovo is not a precedent, but at the
same time Kosovo is a positive signal for protection of human rights
of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh, he quoted Serge Sargsyan,
noting that it is the case when the French say the church is returned
to the center of the town.
The deputy assistant to the U.S. State Secretary, the co-chair of the
OSCE Minsk Group Matthew Bryza was more precise. He said the OSCE Minsk
Group proposals should lead to the return of territories to Azerbaijan,
the return of refugees, include a corridor connecting Karabakh and
Armenia and the deployment of international peacekeepers. According to
Matthew Bryza, the Minsk Group has never worked so intensively to work
out a definite proposal, and in this connection this program differs
from what had been proposed earlier, therefore there is no reason
to compare the programs which were under Levon Ter-Petrosyan and
Robert Kocharyan or Heydar Aliyev. He said now there are completely
new proposals to underlie the peace agreement favoring prosperity in
the region. In this connection, he said they support the territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan and think the status of Nagorno-Karabakh is
an object of talks.
But even this goal scored to Armenians did not satisfy Azerbaijan. Baku
will reconsider its relations with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs
regarding the Karabakh settlement, the deputy minister of foreign
affairs of Azerbaijan Araz Azimov said angrily, commenting on the
result of vote to the resolution on Nagorno-Karabakh at the UN. He
said he was perplexed by the OSCE Minsk Group countries which voted
against the resolution.
The statement of the co-chairs that the status of Nagorno-Karabakh
can be determined through talks is basically erratic, said the deputy
foreign minister of Azerbaijan Araz Azimov in a briefing. The issue
of the status can be determined only on the basis of the legislation
of Azerbaijan and through agreement between the communities of the
country, he said. The status is not an object of discussion with
Armenia. Besides, the status is not the goal of the OSCE Minsk Group,
he said.
What else is awaiting Karabakh? The geopolitical situation is becoming
tougher, the threats of Azerbaijan to resolve the issue through a real
way are becoming more frequent. In fact, Armenia has no government,
and the internal situation is highly tense. The minister of foreign
affairs of Armenia Vardan Oskanyan has already stated that he will
resign because he will hardly assume responsibility for further
steps. And recently the president of Karabakh has met with the staff
of the NKR foreign ministry and proposed priorities for the ministry.