PRIOR TO THE HISTORIC CONFERENCE
Nayira Khachatryan
Hayots Ashkhar Daily
02 Dec 08
Armenia
"In the present-day situation, there are no pre-requisites or telling
circumstances that may force us to revise our decision on discontinuing
the rallies," ARMAN MOUSSINYAN, L. Ter-Petrosyan’s Press-Secretary,
announced in "Urbat" (Friday) club yesterday.
As mentioned by the speaker, the Armenian National Congress will
present more details on its strategy in the conference to be held
in mid-December.
"The day has not been specified yet; preliminarily, it is scheduled
for the 12th of December. The conference of the Congress will not be a
closed door discussion. It will be public, and the questions concerning
both our further strategy and the settlement of the Karabakh conflict
will be answered. There will also be analysis concerning the sphere
of economy."
The radical opposition has not yet elaborated a unanimous opinion
on the Karabakh issue. "The Congress has different approaches to
that question.
There is no unanimous opinion as such, but all the parties are
interested in the maximum advantageous settlement of the conflict."
As to which is that maximum advantageous settlement, the speaker did
not fully clarify the question. "The maximum advantageous settlement
of the issue depends on the strength of Armenia and the weakness of
Azerbaijan at the given moment. In such20circumstances, the settlement
will be in our best interests. Otherwise, the situation will arouse
concerns. That was the reason we discontinued the rallies, relieving
the criminal authorities from our pressures so as they might at least
have the chance to negotiate from stronger positions, because the
Karabakh issue is not restricted to the authorities; it’s a matter
concerning our state and national security."
As seen by the answers of the ex-President’s Spokesman, the issue
will not be settled in the course of the coming months. "It will
be settled after the signature of a framework agreement over the
principles. The Moscow Declaration is the start of the process of
achieving agreements on those principles. I believe there will be an
advance step in that direction during the coming months.
I want you to understand me properly. When we were saying that
the issue was close to its solution, we didn’t mean the main
agreement. What we meant was the preliminary arrangement determining
the principles of the settlement of the Karabakh conflict."
Estimating the current stage of the negotiations, A. Moussinyan
insisted that such settlement process is not in the interests of the
Armenian party.
The arguments, he said, repeated the opposition’s views with regard
to the Minedorf Declaration. "One of the Declaration clauses that
poses a threat is that the conflict should be settled in compliance
with the international principles and the documents adopted on their
basis. For 10 years on end, Azerbaijan had several anti-Armenian
documents adopted by different international tribunals, and thus
it established a legal base. Enshrined in the Moscow Declaration,
that base became the underlying principle of settlement."
And L. Ter-Petrosyan turned out to be the only person proposing
anti-Armenian solutions. "Hadn’t it been for L. Ter-Petrosyan’s speech
delivered on October 17, all this would have passed unnoticed. The
Moscow Declaration would have been adopted, and everybody would
have welcomed it with applauses. With his speeches, L. Ter-Petrosyan
established an agenda. He pushed everybody to speak about the Karabakh
issue."