ARMENIA FOREIGN MINISTER COMMENTS ON NATO SUMMIT, OSCE MEDIATION AND ARMY
BASES
Golos Armenii, Yerevan
8 Jul 04
Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan has said that Armenia is guided “by a
principle of complementarity” in its foreign policy and its
cooperation with NATO is not in conflict with its membership of the
CIS Collective Security Treaty. In a wide-ranging interview with an
Armenian newspaper carried by De-Facto news agency on 8 July, he
commented on the recent Istanbul-hosted NATO summit and hailed NATO
for its statement describing the South Caucasus as “a zone of its
special attention”. The following is the text of report by Armenian
newspaper Golos Armenii on 8 July entitled “The co-chairmen will come
to learn approaches of the parties” as published by De-Facto agency;
subheadings have been inserted editorially:
(De Facto correspondent) You headed the Armenian delegation at the
Istanbul NATO summit. What did Yerevan expect from the summit? To what
extent was this expectation justified? In this sense, what was of most
significance to you? Did you discuss any important issues?
(Vardan Oskanyan) Usually no documents or programmes are discussed at
the summits of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC). The
documents submitted for approval from the country leaders are
discussed beforehand and are agreed at monthly meetings of the EAPC.
The agenda was also known beforehand; therefore nothing special was
expected from the EAPC session. The same can be said about NATO, that
is, we did not expect anything unusual. NATO’s statement that the
South Caucasus is a zone of its special attention was the most
significant one as far as were concerned. It may be said that there is
a certain displacement in NATO’s priorities as regards our region. But
we were aware of this six months ago when the problem was discussed
within the EAPC framework.
In the course of the summit Armenia was not going to raise any special
problems. At the same time we officially announced that we were going
to deepen cooperation with NATO.
CIS versus NATO ties
(Correspondent) In view of Armenia’s membership of the CIS Collective
Security Treaty (CST), how expedient is its cooperation with NATO?
What does NATO mean to Armenia?
(Oskanyan) I see no contradiction here. We are not alone in this
matter. Other member states of the CST, Russia, Kazakhstan and
Kyrgyzstan, are also actively developing their cooperation with
NATO. In particular, Russia is actively implementing this by means of
the NATO-Russia council.
As is known, in its foreign policy Armenia is guided by a principle of
complementarity. Stemming from this, we aspire to establish relations
at the necessary level with all the main centres that are interested
in our region and have a certain effect on the processes taking place
in the South Caucasus. For this reason we are aspiring to be involved
in all the processes, programmes and projects in the region.
Russian bases and Georgian scenario
(Correspondent) Some experts think that after the withdrawal of
Russian bases from Georgia, the problem of the expediency of the
Russian military presence in Armenia will arise. Do you see this
happening?
(Oskanyan) In terms of politics the matter of the Russian military
deployment in Armenia is not directly linked with the preservation or
withdrawal of similar bases from the territory of Georgia. We have a
long-term agreement with Russia, I see no reason for annulling it in
the near future.
(Correspondent) Do you notice new tendencies in the process of the
Karabakh settlement in connection with the stepped up efforts of the
European structures in this process?
(Oskanyan) The OSCE Minsk Group is still dealing with the Karabakh
issue settlement. The Minsk Group cochairmen have recently initiated
meetings of the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan. The
cochairmen are expected to pay a regular visit to the region in
July. They will discuss the current approaches of the parties to the
settlement.
On the other hand, Armenia has a positive attitude towards the
initiatives of the European Union (EU) and Council of Europe (CE),
expressed during regular visits of the EU special envoy for the South
Caucasus, Heike Talvitie, and the CE rapporteur on Nagornyy Karabakh,
Terry Devis, who has recently been elected as secretary-general of the
CE.
We think that active efforts and initiatives of such authoritative
European structures may supplement but not substitute the efforts of
the Minsk Group cochairmen on the conflict settlement.
OSCE Minsk Group
(Correspondent) As a rule Azerbaijan blames the OSCE Minsk Group
cochairmen from Russia, the USA, France for failing to settle the
Karabakh conflict. How qualified are this kind of charges?
(Oskanyan) Really the Azeri party sometimes accuses the OSCE Minsk
Group and says that the conflict is not settled because of the
cochairmen’s inaction. The Azeris can only see and estimate only what
is advantageous to them this very minute. Whereas over the past few
years the mediators put forward several proposals. The last two were
accepted by Armenia and Nagornyy Karabakh but rejected by
Azerbaijan. At high-level meetings the cochairmen are now discussing
outlines of and prospects for a settlement on the basis of which it
will be possible to work out new suggestions which would become the
basis of the settlement negotiations.
US envoy
(Correspondent) The US ambassador to Armenia, John Ordway, expressed
the hope that the conflict will be settled within the next couple of
years. Some experts think that it would take next 20 to 25 years to
reach a settlement. Which of these two views is more realistic?
(Oskanyan) The Armenian-Azeri negotiations conducted at the initiative
of the OSCE Minsk Group cochairmen are aimed at working out an
agreement as soon as possible and bringing the positions of the two
parties on the Karabakh conflict settlement closer. Certainly we would
have preferred the US ambassador’s optimistic approach to come
true. It will enable all the regional countries to engage in
comprehensive cooperation.
(Correspondent) The mediators often reiterate that the settlement
fully depends on the political will and desire of the sides. Do you
think that Russia, the USA and France will accept any option of the
conflict settlement on which the parties agree?
(Oskanyan) I have already mentioned that the cochairmen make efforts
to organize meetings between the parties to the conflict, in the
course of which it would be possible to find general approaches and
outlines of a settlement. I think that in this context any suggestion
acceptable for the conflict parties, will be acceptable for the
mediators as well.
(Correspondent) The Azerbaijani leaders have started to add the phrase
“Nagornyy Karabakh” to the “Armenian-Azeri conflict” term which they
use. We did not notice this at first. How can you explain that?
(Oskanyan) We have said many times that the conflict is between
Azerbaijan and Nagornyy Karabakh. I think that the Azeri wording aims
at presenting the conflict in an advantageous light for Azerbaijan. I
would like to remind you that international organizations, in
particular the OSCE Minsk Group, use the expression “Nagornyy Karabakh
conflict”.