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PACKAGE SOLUTION WHICH GIVES RISE TO CONCERNS
Gevorg Haroutyunyan
Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on Aug 06, 2008
Armenia
We continue presenting to the reader the interview with KIRO MANOYAN,
person in charge of the 'Hay Dat' and Political Affairs Office of
the ARFD Bureau
"Mr. Manoyan, what impact can the progress in the Turkish-Armenian
relations have upon the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict?"
"If Mr. Gyul accepts Serge Sargsyan's invitation, he will come to
Armenia from Baku where the Turkish-speaking countries are going
to convene their assembly. It is also necessary to take into
consideration the fact that Azerbaijan is to hold presidential
elections in October. Before that, the country will have to act as
the dove of peace; otherwise, the international community may not
recognize the results of the elections.
Therefore, Azerbaijan cannot be an impediment to Mr. Gyul's visit
to Armenia.
In the Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, everything is conditioned by
the presidential elections. Before the elections, all the possible
efforts will be made to show some progress in the negotiations held
within the frameworks of the OSCE Minsk Group. And only after the
West admits the election results will Azerbaijan launch a diplomatic
attack. Besides, I don't rule out the possibility of the Presidents'
meeting before the elections.
This is not the first time that progress is recorded in the negotiation
process. The Co-Chairs too, get the opportunity to refute de facto
Azerbaijan's dissatisfactions that the Minsk Group format has exhausted
itself. However, it is quite possible that after the presidential
elections, the negotiation process may return to the same point which
it reached several months ago. The Azerbaijani President will not
reach the moment to openly tell his people that it is necessary to
hand over Karabakh."
"The American Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group announced that the
Madrid principles are almost coordinated, and the people of Karabakh
will determine Karabakh's status through a referendum. What may be
the reality?"
"The PACE Resolution on Azerbaijan clearly states that the Madrid
principles are no longer limited to words; they are enshrined in
a concrete document. Mr. Bryza actually made it clear that the
conflicting parties have agreed to some of the principles proposed
by them. But the document will either be adopted on the whole or it
will not be adopted at all.
That's to say, it is clearly stated that the document under discussion
is a package vs. something like a phase solution. And the package
will not be adopted unless all the clauses have been agreed upon.
But what gives rise to concern is that the package envisages the
withdrawal of the Armenian forces from 7 regions of the NKAR, instead
of the 5 regions mentioned previously. And the Armenian forces20will
be replaced by the international peacekeepers. And the displaced
people and the refugees will be resettled. Then, at some moment,
the NKR status will be determined through a referendum.
The principles and proposals do not make it clear when and how the
refugees and the displaced will be resettled. Up to this moment,
while speaking about the participation in the referendum, the issue
of maintaining the 80-20 percent proportion of the Armenian and Azeri
population was being discussed, no matter when the referendum might
take place. Now, there is probably nothing definite with regard to
this issue. And because there is an issue regarding the return of
the territories, the ARFD-Dashnaktsutyun is against this package."
Gevorg Haroutyunyan
Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on Aug 06, 2008
Armenia
We continue presenting to the reader the interview with KIRO MANOYAN,
person in charge of the 'Hay Dat' and Political Affairs Office of
the ARFD Bureau
"Mr. Manoyan, what impact can the progress in the Turkish-Armenian
relations have upon the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict?"
"If Mr. Gyul accepts Serge Sargsyan's invitation, he will come to
Armenia from Baku where the Turkish-speaking countries are going
to convene their assembly. It is also necessary to take into
consideration the fact that Azerbaijan is to hold presidential
elections in October. Before that, the country will have to act as
the dove of peace; otherwise, the international community may not
recognize the results of the elections.
Therefore, Azerbaijan cannot be an impediment to Mr. Gyul's visit
to Armenia.
In the Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, everything is conditioned by
the presidential elections. Before the elections, all the possible
efforts will be made to show some progress in the negotiations held
within the frameworks of the OSCE Minsk Group. And only after the
West admits the election results will Azerbaijan launch a diplomatic
attack. Besides, I don't rule out the possibility of the Presidents'
meeting before the elections.
This is not the first time that progress is recorded in the negotiation
process. The Co-Chairs too, get the opportunity to refute de facto
Azerbaijan's dissatisfactions that the Minsk Group format has exhausted
itself. However, it is quite possible that after the presidential
elections, the negotiation process may return to the same point which
it reached several months ago. The Azerbaijani President will not
reach the moment to openly tell his people that it is necessary to
hand over Karabakh."
"The American Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group announced that the
Madrid principles are almost coordinated, and the people of Karabakh
will determine Karabakh's status through a referendum. What may be
the reality?"
"The PACE Resolution on Azerbaijan clearly states that the Madrid
principles are no longer limited to words; they are enshrined in
a concrete document. Mr. Bryza actually made it clear that the
conflicting parties have agreed to some of the principles proposed
by them. But the document will either be adopted on the whole or it
will not be adopted at all.
That's to say, it is clearly stated that the document under discussion
is a package vs. something like a phase solution. And the package
will not be adopted unless all the clauses have been agreed upon.
But what gives rise to concern is that the package envisages the
withdrawal of the Armenian forces from 7 regions of the NKAR, instead
of the 5 regions mentioned previously. And the Armenian forces20will
be replaced by the international peacekeepers. And the displaced
people and the refugees will be resettled. Then, at some moment,
the NKR status will be determined through a referendum.
The principles and proposals do not make it clear when and how the
refugees and the displaced will be resettled. Up to this moment,
while speaking about the participation in the referendum, the issue
of maintaining the 80-20 percent proportion of the Armenian and Azeri
population was being discussed, no matter when the referendum might
take place. Now, there is probably nothing definite with regard to
this issue. And because there is an issue regarding the return of
the territories, the ARFD-Dashnaktsutyun is against this package."