ARMENIAN MINISTER SEES NO ALTERNATIVE TO KARABAKH'S RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION
Azg
April 1 2008
Armenia
Vardan Oskanyan: There is no alternative solution to the Nagornyy
Karabakh issue other than peace talks based on Nagornyy Karabakh's
right to full self-determination
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan has described as wrong and
bad Azerbaijan's decision to reject a meeting between the newly-elected
Armenian president [Serzh Sargsyan] and the Azerbaijani president
[Ilham Aliyev] which the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs had proposed
holding in Bucharest on the sidelines of the NATO summit scheduled
to be held in the next few days.
This assessment, Oskanyan said, is due to the fact that no proposal
of a meeting in Bucharest was voiced by Armenia and that the proposal
was made by the Minsk Group co-chairs, and Armenia, too, earlier said
that it would agree if there was a proposal from the Minsk Group and
agreement from Azerbaijan.
Speaking about Azerbaijan's steps aimed at rejecting the Minsk Group
format and recent Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, Oskanyan said:
"Azerbaijan is playing a very dirty game which is compatible with
its recent steps."
He said that the initiative to disband the Minsk Group and reject the
document which has been discussed for the past two years is in line
with Azerbaijan's efforts to take the issue of cease-fire violations
to the United Nations. Oskanyan said in this regard that Azerbaijan is
now trying to reject a document that contains principles it had clearly
agreed with. Oskanyan said that "the Karabakh issue has no alternative
solution other than a negotiated settlement, and nothing other than
the Nagornyy Karabakh people's full right to self-determination should
be in the centre of the talks, and the subject of the talks is to see
what type of self-determination the people of Karabakh will accept."
Speaking about Azerbaijani President Aliyev's recent statement
about the alleged "genocide of Azerbaijanis by Armenians" in 1918
and Aliyev's assessment of the political situation in Armenia,
Oskanyan said that it would be better for Azerbaijan to mind its
own business because it is the last country on the earth that can
make such statements about Armenia. As for the so-called genocide
of Azerbaijanis, Oskanyan warned that the coming generations may
not forgive Azerbaijan for this because it is a serious trauma. More
concretely, the aim of such an approach is to incite hatred and the
goal is to settle the Karabakh conflict by military means.
Azg
April 1 2008
Armenia
Vardan Oskanyan: There is no alternative solution to the Nagornyy
Karabakh issue other than peace talks based on Nagornyy Karabakh's
right to full self-determination
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan has described as wrong and
bad Azerbaijan's decision to reject a meeting between the newly-elected
Armenian president [Serzh Sargsyan] and the Azerbaijani president
[Ilham Aliyev] which the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs had proposed
holding in Bucharest on the sidelines of the NATO summit scheduled
to be held in the next few days.
This assessment, Oskanyan said, is due to the fact that no proposal
of a meeting in Bucharest was voiced by Armenia and that the proposal
was made by the Minsk Group co-chairs, and Armenia, too, earlier said
that it would agree if there was a proposal from the Minsk Group and
agreement from Azerbaijan.
Speaking about Azerbaijan's steps aimed at rejecting the Minsk Group
format and recent Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, Oskanyan said:
"Azerbaijan is playing a very dirty game which is compatible with
its recent steps."
He said that the initiative to disband the Minsk Group and reject the
document which has been discussed for the past two years is in line
with Azerbaijan's efforts to take the issue of cease-fire violations
to the United Nations. Oskanyan said in this regard that Azerbaijan is
now trying to reject a document that contains principles it had clearly
agreed with. Oskanyan said that "the Karabakh issue has no alternative
solution other than a negotiated settlement, and nothing other than
the Nagornyy Karabakh people's full right to self-determination should
be in the centre of the talks, and the subject of the talks is to see
what type of self-determination the people of Karabakh will accept."
Speaking about Azerbaijani President Aliyev's recent statement
about the alleged "genocide of Azerbaijanis by Armenians" in 1918
and Aliyev's assessment of the political situation in Armenia,
Oskanyan said that it would be better for Azerbaijan to mind its
own business because it is the last country on the earth that can
make such statements about Armenia. As for the so-called genocide
of Azerbaijanis, Oskanyan warned that the coming generations may
not forgive Azerbaijan for this because it is a serious trauma. More
concretely, the aim of such an approach is to incite hatred and the
goal is to settle the Karabakh conflict by military means.