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Sahakian Rules Out Karabakh Under Azeri Control
asbarez
Friday, July 30th, 2010
Karabakh President Bako Sahakian
YEREVAN (RFE/RL) - Nagorno-Karabakh Republic President Bako Sahakian on
Friday said the war with Azerbaijan is unlikely to resume soon and
again ruled out any peaceful settlement that would place Karabakh back
under Azerbaijani control.
`The likelihood of large-scale hostilities is small,' Sahakian told
the Russian Interfax news agency in an interview. `First of all, there
is a very effective balance of forces existing between the conflicting
parties.'
`Secondly, war is fraught with unpredictable consequences. The
international community and, in particular, the mediating countries
are hardly interested in instability in a strategically important
region like the South Caucasus,' he said.
Tensions along the main Armenian-Azerbaijani line of contact have
risen since a June 18-19 firefight in northeastern Karabakh that left
four Armenian soldiers dead. The incident was followed by fresh
Azerbaijani threats to resolve the conflict by force.
`Such [ceasefire] violations can not change the existing balance of
forces or undermine the spirit of our people and its army,' said
Sahakian. Karabakh Armenian forces are capable of not only repelling
an Azerbaijani offensive but also `taking hostilities deep into the
enemy's territory,' he added.
In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, the U.S., Russian and French
mediators co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group urged the conflicting
parties to `reinforce the ceasefire and demonstrate a spirit of
compromise.' They also confirmed that the parties failed to overcome
their differences over the conflict's resolution during recent
negotiations.
Sahakian scoffed at Azerbaijani statements that Baku is only prepared
to give Karabakh a high degree of autonomy. `We already had that
autonomy during 70 years of Soviet rule and we all know how it ended,'
he said. `A broad or any other autonomy within Azerbaijan is out of
the question. The conflict with Azerbaijan can only be resolved
through a formal international recognition of the independent
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.'
The Karabakh leader also insisted that the recent ruling by the
International Court of Justice upholding the legality of Kosovo's
secession from Serbia is also applicable to the Armenian-Azerbaijani
dispute.
From: A. Papazian
asbarez
Friday, July 30th, 2010
Karabakh President Bako Sahakian
YEREVAN (RFE/RL) - Nagorno-Karabakh Republic President Bako Sahakian on
Friday said the war with Azerbaijan is unlikely to resume soon and
again ruled out any peaceful settlement that would place Karabakh back
under Azerbaijani control.
`The likelihood of large-scale hostilities is small,' Sahakian told
the Russian Interfax news agency in an interview. `First of all, there
is a very effective balance of forces existing between the conflicting
parties.'
`Secondly, war is fraught with unpredictable consequences. The
international community and, in particular, the mediating countries
are hardly interested in instability in a strategically important
region like the South Caucasus,' he said.
Tensions along the main Armenian-Azerbaijani line of contact have
risen since a June 18-19 firefight in northeastern Karabakh that left
four Armenian soldiers dead. The incident was followed by fresh
Azerbaijani threats to resolve the conflict by force.
`Such [ceasefire] violations can not change the existing balance of
forces or undermine the spirit of our people and its army,' said
Sahakian. Karabakh Armenian forces are capable of not only repelling
an Azerbaijani offensive but also `taking hostilities deep into the
enemy's territory,' he added.
In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, the U.S., Russian and French
mediators co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group urged the conflicting
parties to `reinforce the ceasefire and demonstrate a spirit of
compromise.' They also confirmed that the parties failed to overcome
their differences over the conflict's resolution during recent
negotiations.
Sahakian scoffed at Azerbaijani statements that Baku is only prepared
to give Karabakh a high degree of autonomy. `We already had that
autonomy during 70 years of Soviet rule and we all know how it ended,'
he said. `A broad or any other autonomy within Azerbaijan is out of
the question. The conflict with Azerbaijan can only be resolved
through a formal international recognition of the independent
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.'
The Karabakh leader also insisted that the recent ruling by the
International Court of Justice upholding the legality of Kosovo's
secession from Serbia is also applicable to the Armenian-Azerbaijani
dispute.
From: A. Papazian