VARTAN OSKANIAN: DETAILS STYMIE NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT RESOLUTION
Azg/arm
14 Jan 05
Vartan Oskanian, RA foreign minister, discussed his Prague meeting
with his Azeri counterpart.
Oskanian stated that the resumption of the negotiations after some
break was a positive step and some progress had been fixed. The
Ministers cleared out that there is similarity in comprehension of
some issues, but only in deep issues. “When you go into details, it
turns out that the common points are not that close to discuss them in
details,” RA foreign minister said.
In response to the question put by daily Azg whether they discussed
the probability of solving the Nagorno Karabakh issue through
referendums in two countries, Oskanian said: “Spare me of answering
this question. All the questions connected with Karabakh are being
discussed thoroughly. We will see in future how these issues will
develop. A rather complicated process is expected, but we expect some
prospects.”
Two foreign Ministers agreed to be careful in making statements not to
hinder the settlement of the issue. The negotiation process has
entered a more serious stage and one should be more cautious.
Oskanian didn’t specify about the details of the negotiations for this
very reason. He stated that it is early to speak of the probability of
applying any of the step-by-step versions. That period has passed
already and the general principles are being discussed now.
Though the general circle of the issues exists already but it was
obvious that “before going into details, we should consolidate those
issues.”
As for the aspects and events of the last year, Oskanian emphasized
the importance of imparting the economic element to the country’s
foreign policy and the processes of the integration into Europe.
Oskanian stated that “in the aspect of multilateral diplomacy Armenia
was rather active and widely involved in the international and
regional processes and deepened its relations with its traditional
friends in 2004. The intensive diplomacy will continue in 2005, as
well.
As for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, the last year yielded
good results. Argentina, Uruguay, the Netherlands, Slovakia and Canada
joined the countries that recognized the Armenian genocide. As for the
European Parliament, it made its stance over the Armenian Genocide
more concrete, demanding from Turkey to recognize the crime committed
against the Armenians and to open the borders with Armenia. This year,
when Armenia is going to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide, it’s the most appropriate time to raise this issue
in the international instances again, as today this issue is still
actual for many countries of the world.