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ARMENIA TO AZERBAIJAN: TIME TO PREPARE PUBLIC OPINION
by Armen Hareyan HULIQ.com
HULIQ.com
June 7 2010
SC
The final status of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic is the key to
solving the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan and reaching
lasting peace. However, the problem seems to be the public opinion
in Azerbaijan.
Today the spokesman of the Armenian Foreign Ministry Tigran Balayan
told Russian Interfaks News Agency that there will be a progress in
the negotiation process between Armenia and Azerbaijan if the later
accepts responsibility for things that have to do with the start of
this conflict. "Azerbaijan has to stop presenting its imagination
about the rights as international law and stop fruitlessly distorting
the essence of the negotiation process," Balayan told Interfaks.
There is a lot of substance in Balayan's words.
Until recently Azerbaijan was blaming Armenia for not responding to
Madrid Principles. Then yesterday its foreign minister Mammadyarov
admitted that in Sochi earlier this year the mediators proposed to
take a break and a pause was taken. Azerbaijan speaks of accepting
the Madrid Principles but refuses to accept that they lead to de jure
independence of Nagorno Karabakh Republic because the last principle
calls for "legally binding expression of will," in Nagorno Karabakh.
Considering the overwhelming majority of the population is Armenian,
the expression of will in Karabakh will lead to its independence.
The Public Opinion
Our sources in the Armenian Foreign Ministry tell us on the condition
of anonymity that that during the negotiations the authorities of
Azerbaijan "understand and accept" that the Madrid Principles will lead
to Nagorno Karabakh's independence (Nagorno Karabakh has never been
part of independent Azerbaijan). They don't acknowledge this in public
because they say Azerbaijans public opinion is not ready for this.
Yet, the authorities of Azerbaijan have done a single thing to prepare
their public opinion to making honorable peace with Armenia. In
contrast, they keep preparing their public opinion to war. While war
is not a viable option for Azerbaijan today, who knows if it may not
be in 2-3 years. Therefore, they may think it is a good option to
keep the public opinion in a war-ready mindset.
On the other hand the public opinion in Armenia while not unanimous,
is more ready to make peace with Azerbaijan then the Azeri public.
This is because the Armenian authorities don't talk about war very
much and have used the word only to repel Azerbaijan's bellicose
statements in the past.
Thus, the peace will only come when we all see Azerbaijan and Armenia
making serious efforts to point their public opinion toward making
peace with their neighbor. This is where the Minsk Group mediators
should start from during their next visit to the region this summer.
From: A. Papazian
by Armen Hareyan HULIQ.com
HULIQ.com
June 7 2010
SC
The final status of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic is the key to
solving the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan and reaching
lasting peace. However, the problem seems to be the public opinion
in Azerbaijan.
Today the spokesman of the Armenian Foreign Ministry Tigran Balayan
told Russian Interfaks News Agency that there will be a progress in
the negotiation process between Armenia and Azerbaijan if the later
accepts responsibility for things that have to do with the start of
this conflict. "Azerbaijan has to stop presenting its imagination
about the rights as international law and stop fruitlessly distorting
the essence of the negotiation process," Balayan told Interfaks.
There is a lot of substance in Balayan's words.
Until recently Azerbaijan was blaming Armenia for not responding to
Madrid Principles. Then yesterday its foreign minister Mammadyarov
admitted that in Sochi earlier this year the mediators proposed to
take a break and a pause was taken. Azerbaijan speaks of accepting
the Madrid Principles but refuses to accept that they lead to de jure
independence of Nagorno Karabakh Republic because the last principle
calls for "legally binding expression of will," in Nagorno Karabakh.
Considering the overwhelming majority of the population is Armenian,
the expression of will in Karabakh will lead to its independence.
The Public Opinion
Our sources in the Armenian Foreign Ministry tell us on the condition
of anonymity that that during the negotiations the authorities of
Azerbaijan "understand and accept" that the Madrid Principles will lead
to Nagorno Karabakh's independence (Nagorno Karabakh has never been
part of independent Azerbaijan). They don't acknowledge this in public
because they say Azerbaijans public opinion is not ready for this.
Yet, the authorities of Azerbaijan have done a single thing to prepare
their public opinion to making honorable peace with Armenia. In
contrast, they keep preparing their public opinion to war. While war
is not a viable option for Azerbaijan today, who knows if it may not
be in 2-3 years. Therefore, they may think it is a good option to
keep the public opinion in a war-ready mindset.
On the other hand the public opinion in Armenia while not unanimous,
is more ready to make peace with Azerbaijan then the Azeri public.
This is because the Armenian authorities don't talk about war very
much and have used the word only to repel Azerbaijan's bellicose
statements in the past.
Thus, the peace will only come when we all see Azerbaijan and Armenia
making serious efforts to point their public opinion toward making
peace with their neighbor. This is where the Minsk Group mediators
should start from during their next visit to the region this summer.
From: A. Papazian