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TIGRAN TOROSIAN ON NAGORNO KARABAKH ISSUE
AZG Armenian Daily #147, 05/08/2006
Karabakh Issue
The official Baku does not dare to recognize the real situation in
the Karabakh process and that causes the anti-Armenian militaristic
propaganda in Azerbaijan,
Tigran Torosian, Chairman of RA National Assembly, said in the
interview to Regnum agency. He added that obviously the settlement
of the Karabakh conflict is possible only through respecting the
principle of national self-determination. Nevertheless President Ilham
Aliev is not still ready for that, although during backstage talks
he also assumes that this is the only possible way. The only thing
which remains for the President of Azerbaijan to do is to lie to his
own people and make them believe that the problem can be solved by
military force, he said. Torosian called for the international society
to help Azerbaijan face the reality. For example, the international
institutions could recognize the independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic. In that case Azerbaijan will be liberated from necessity
doing that step first and will only have to accept the fact. When it
becomes obvious absolutely to everyone that Azerbaijan is not ready for
peace settlement and is even hampering the process, the independence of
Karabakh will be once again affirmed through referendum. The right of
the Armenian people for national self-determination will be respected,
irrespective of the position of Azerbaijan.
As for the current stage of the settlement negotiations, he said
he wouldn't evaluate today's situation of negotiations for Nagorno
Karabakh conflict settlement within the OSCE MG framework as a
failure. He emphasized that the settlement principles, including that
of respecting the right for self-determination, had been elaborated
for several years, but today these principles are announced and are
discussed by the publicity. Torosian condemned the official Baku in
double-faced behavior, as the statements made for the home auditorium
didn't match with those made to the co-chairs. "Unless certain details
of the negotiations were revealed and everything was held beneath
the closed doors, Aliev and Mamediarov didn't neglect them. Today,
when many people are informed about the details, they try to deny the
principles or some of them," Torosian said. He added that the new
stage of the negotiations will have the same results as those in the
last year: "when the times come to fully publish the principles and
define the formulae of the documents, the Azeries will again retreat."
Commenting on the issue of the territories under the control of
NKR Armed Forces, he said that for the first time the right of
people for self-determination is recognized as a principle for the
settlement of a conflict. This is an undeniable fact and is fixed
in several documents. The application of this principle will yield
the recognition of Nagorno Karabakh's independence. Tigran Torosian
emphasized that the issue of territories around NKR is directly linked
to the issue of the NKR people's right for self-determination and can't
be considered separately from that. "They sometimes say that NKR has
held a referendum once. But one may ask which borders was that held
in. If we keep insisting on the results of the referendum held in NKR,
we shouldn't forget that we are also instating on preservation of
the borders the referendum was held in," he said. "17 years passed,
if we count from 1988, as the international community has fixed that,
the principle for the people's self-determination should be taken into
account. If it's necessary to wait for NKR's independence recognition
for 17 years more, I believe that both in Armenia and in NKR people
will have the required patience to wait for that day. None should
ever doubt that this day will come," Torosian underscored.
As for the information on holding the independence referendum
in 15 years, he said that the term for holding the referendum for
self-determination in NKR in 10-15 years isn't fixed anywhere. There
is no such a document and there are no reasons for talking about such
a term. Tigran Torosian said it isn't reasonable to talk of any term,
as it should be linked to certain actions. Besides, the borders for
holding the referendum should also be precisely defined. Moreover,
one should accurately fix that notwithstanding the position of
Azerbaijan after the referendum, the international community should
recognize its results, Torosian emphasized, adding that Azerbaijan
is ready to deny any agreements, viewpoints or promises any time
at all. "The international community should secure the recognition
of these results. At the same time, if we need some 2-3 years for
holding the referendum, one should define the intermediate status
of NKR," Torosian stated, adding that there are many issues that
should be answered to complete the elaboration of the document and
to prepare that for signing. He expressed hope that by that time NKR
will participate in the negotiations. "It's very important that the
document is also signed by the representatives of NKR, as Nagorno
Karabakh is an internationally recognized full fledged side in
conflict," he underscored.
AZG Armenian Daily #147, 05/08/2006
Karabakh Issue
The official Baku does not dare to recognize the real situation in
the Karabakh process and that causes the anti-Armenian militaristic
propaganda in Azerbaijan,
Tigran Torosian, Chairman of RA National Assembly, said in the
interview to Regnum agency. He added that obviously the settlement
of the Karabakh conflict is possible only through respecting the
principle of national self-determination. Nevertheless President Ilham
Aliev is not still ready for that, although during backstage talks
he also assumes that this is the only possible way. The only thing
which remains for the President of Azerbaijan to do is to lie to his
own people and make them believe that the problem can be solved by
military force, he said. Torosian called for the international society
to help Azerbaijan face the reality. For example, the international
institutions could recognize the independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic. In that case Azerbaijan will be liberated from necessity
doing that step first and will only have to accept the fact. When it
becomes obvious absolutely to everyone that Azerbaijan is not ready for
peace settlement and is even hampering the process, the independence of
Karabakh will be once again affirmed through referendum. The right of
the Armenian people for national self-determination will be respected,
irrespective of the position of Azerbaijan.
As for the current stage of the settlement negotiations, he said
he wouldn't evaluate today's situation of negotiations for Nagorno
Karabakh conflict settlement within the OSCE MG framework as a
failure. He emphasized that the settlement principles, including that
of respecting the right for self-determination, had been elaborated
for several years, but today these principles are announced and are
discussed by the publicity. Torosian condemned the official Baku in
double-faced behavior, as the statements made for the home auditorium
didn't match with those made to the co-chairs. "Unless certain details
of the negotiations were revealed and everything was held beneath
the closed doors, Aliev and Mamediarov didn't neglect them. Today,
when many people are informed about the details, they try to deny the
principles or some of them," Torosian said. He added that the new
stage of the negotiations will have the same results as those in the
last year: "when the times come to fully publish the principles and
define the formulae of the documents, the Azeries will again retreat."
Commenting on the issue of the territories under the control of
NKR Armed Forces, he said that for the first time the right of
people for self-determination is recognized as a principle for the
settlement of a conflict. This is an undeniable fact and is fixed
in several documents. The application of this principle will yield
the recognition of Nagorno Karabakh's independence. Tigran Torosian
emphasized that the issue of territories around NKR is directly linked
to the issue of the NKR people's right for self-determination and can't
be considered separately from that. "They sometimes say that NKR has
held a referendum once. But one may ask which borders was that held
in. If we keep insisting on the results of the referendum held in NKR,
we shouldn't forget that we are also instating on preservation of
the borders the referendum was held in," he said. "17 years passed,
if we count from 1988, as the international community has fixed that,
the principle for the people's self-determination should be taken into
account. If it's necessary to wait for NKR's independence recognition
for 17 years more, I believe that both in Armenia and in NKR people
will have the required patience to wait for that day. None should
ever doubt that this day will come," Torosian underscored.
As for the information on holding the independence referendum
in 15 years, he said that the term for holding the referendum for
self-determination in NKR in 10-15 years isn't fixed anywhere. There
is no such a document and there are no reasons for talking about such
a term. Tigran Torosian said it isn't reasonable to talk of any term,
as it should be linked to certain actions. Besides, the borders for
holding the referendum should also be precisely defined. Moreover,
one should accurately fix that notwithstanding the position of
Azerbaijan after the referendum, the international community should
recognize its results, Torosian emphasized, adding that Azerbaijan
is ready to deny any agreements, viewpoints or promises any time
at all. "The international community should secure the recognition
of these results. At the same time, if we need some 2-3 years for
holding the referendum, one should define the intermediate status
of NKR," Torosian stated, adding that there are many issues that
should be answered to complete the elaboration of the document and
to prepare that for signing. He expressed hope that by that time NKR
will participate in the negotiations. "It's very important that the
document is also signed by the representatives of NKR, as Nagorno
Karabakh is an internationally recognized full fledged side in
conflict," he underscored.