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Armenian politicians differ about referendum on Karabakh's status
Aravot, Yerevan
13 Jul 05
Text of Margarit Yesayan report by Armenian newspaper Aravot on 13
July headlined "The new stage in the Karabakh issue"
The opposition is against returning five districts [to Azerbaijan]
while the coalition is for. Commenting on the latest option for the
settlement of the Karabakh issue, which was recently reported by Radio
Liberty, Aram Sarkisyan, representative of the [opposition] Justice
bloc, said: "What is suggested by the authorities is first of all
unacceptable to the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic [NKR], because Karabakh
is not ready to speak about returning the districts yet. And the
problem of Karabakh's status has not been settled yet. For this
reason, it is unacceptable to return the five districts and postpone
the referendum for 10 years. I would like to tell Mr [Armenian
President Robert] Kocharyan once again that by doing so, he is putting
an end to the entire process that has been under way until today,
i.e. he resigns himself to [Azerbaijani President] Ilham Aliyev's
principle of starting from scratch. It turns out that at present the
districts will be given away for nothing. Imagine, the so-called
displaced people return to their homes, this means that during the
referendum, the Azerbaijanis who lived in Karabakh before 1988 should
also return and Shushi [Susa] should also be resettled. This means
that serious demographic changes will take place here. I would like to
stress that they will also include children born after 1988, imagine
how many there will be over 10 years. But the referendum has already
been conducted in Karabakh. What new referendum do they mean?"
According to him, the most important issue is who is Kocharyan today
that he is able to sign any agreement on behalf of Karabakh? Who is he
from a legal point of view? He has not recognized the independence of
the NKR. He has not declared Karabakh part of Armenia, which would
have given him the right to sign any document on behalf of Karabakh.
Aram Sarkisyan is sure that "it is nonsense when they say that today
we return the five districts, keep Lachin [Lacin] and turn Kelbadzhar
[Kalbacar] into a guarantee of the referendum. Why is that referendum
becoming the most important problem? Who said that we have the right
to return Kelbadzhar? This means that we shall return the whole of
Karabakh. This is not an option for us."
The views of the coalition forces differ. According to a
representative of the supreme body of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation - Dashnaktsutyun, Armen Rustamyan, this scenario may be
discussed. Mr Rustamyan said that the following was a positive idea:
an arrangement to settle the problem by means of a package scenario,
security guarantees and their direct connection with the status [of
Karabakh]. The next is the determination of Karabakh's status through
a referendum: "This is really a positive approach as it pre-supposes
accepting that the settlement of the problem should be based on the
principle of the self-determination of nations. Certainly, we
conducted a referendum earlier, but the holding of a second referendum
may be discussed as a compromise, and this does not mean denying
preliminary approaches." Armen Rustamyan said that a 10-year delay in
conducting the referendum is unacceptable: "The date for the
referendum is important because of demographic problems."
The leader of the parliamentary faction of the Republican Party of
Armenia, Galust Saakyan, is sure that those who drew up this document
wanted to please the Armenians, as well as the Azerbaijanis. "I think
this is connected with the parliamentary elections that will take
place soon [on 6 November in Azerbaijan]." There is an opinion that
this is the scenario that will be discussed during the upcoming
meeting between Kocharyan and Aliyev in Kazan.
But Galust Saakyan thinks that no problem will be settled in Kazan
"because all problems may be settled after the autumn, when the
parliamentary elections will already have been held in Azerbaijan and
local government elections and a constitutional referendum in
Armenia." Galust Saakyan is sure that the public will eventually learn
about this kind of document and will have its say as "nobody may
assume responsibility to say 'yes' to any scenario because the people
should resolve the problem in cooperation with political forces".
Aravot, Yerevan
13 Jul 05
Text of Margarit Yesayan report by Armenian newspaper Aravot on 13
July headlined "The new stage in the Karabakh issue"
The opposition is against returning five districts [to Azerbaijan]
while the coalition is for. Commenting on the latest option for the
settlement of the Karabakh issue, which was recently reported by Radio
Liberty, Aram Sarkisyan, representative of the [opposition] Justice
bloc, said: "What is suggested by the authorities is first of all
unacceptable to the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic [NKR], because Karabakh
is not ready to speak about returning the districts yet. And the
problem of Karabakh's status has not been settled yet. For this
reason, it is unacceptable to return the five districts and postpone
the referendum for 10 years. I would like to tell Mr [Armenian
President Robert] Kocharyan once again that by doing so, he is putting
an end to the entire process that has been under way until today,
i.e. he resigns himself to [Azerbaijani President] Ilham Aliyev's
principle of starting from scratch. It turns out that at present the
districts will be given away for nothing. Imagine, the so-called
displaced people return to their homes, this means that during the
referendum, the Azerbaijanis who lived in Karabakh before 1988 should
also return and Shushi [Susa] should also be resettled. This means
that serious demographic changes will take place here. I would like to
stress that they will also include children born after 1988, imagine
how many there will be over 10 years. But the referendum has already
been conducted in Karabakh. What new referendum do they mean?"
According to him, the most important issue is who is Kocharyan today
that he is able to sign any agreement on behalf of Karabakh? Who is he
from a legal point of view? He has not recognized the independence of
the NKR. He has not declared Karabakh part of Armenia, which would
have given him the right to sign any document on behalf of Karabakh.
Aram Sarkisyan is sure that "it is nonsense when they say that today
we return the five districts, keep Lachin [Lacin] and turn Kelbadzhar
[Kalbacar] into a guarantee of the referendum. Why is that referendum
becoming the most important problem? Who said that we have the right
to return Kelbadzhar? This means that we shall return the whole of
Karabakh. This is not an option for us."
The views of the coalition forces differ. According to a
representative of the supreme body of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation - Dashnaktsutyun, Armen Rustamyan, this scenario may be
discussed. Mr Rustamyan said that the following was a positive idea:
an arrangement to settle the problem by means of a package scenario,
security guarantees and their direct connection with the status [of
Karabakh]. The next is the determination of Karabakh's status through
a referendum: "This is really a positive approach as it pre-supposes
accepting that the settlement of the problem should be based on the
principle of the self-determination of nations. Certainly, we
conducted a referendum earlier, but the holding of a second referendum
may be discussed as a compromise, and this does not mean denying
preliminary approaches." Armen Rustamyan said that a 10-year delay in
conducting the referendum is unacceptable: "The date for the
referendum is important because of demographic problems."
The leader of the parliamentary faction of the Republican Party of
Armenia, Galust Saakyan, is sure that those who drew up this document
wanted to please the Armenians, as well as the Azerbaijanis. "I think
this is connected with the parliamentary elections that will take
place soon [on 6 November in Azerbaijan]." There is an opinion that
this is the scenario that will be discussed during the upcoming
meeting between Kocharyan and Aliyev in Kazan.
But Galust Saakyan thinks that no problem will be settled in Kazan
"because all problems may be settled after the autumn, when the
parliamentary elections will already have been held in Azerbaijan and
local government elections and a constitutional referendum in
Armenia." Galust Saakyan is sure that the public will eventually learn
about this kind of document and will have its say as "nobody may
assume responsibility to say 'yes' to any scenario because the people
should resolve the problem in cooperation with political forces".