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No agreement on NK without Stepanakert's signature, Opp Leader says

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  • No agreement on NK without Stepanakert's signature, Opp Leader says

    news.am, Armenia
    Sept 17 2010


    No agreement on Karabakh without Stepanakert's signature, Opposition Leader says

    September 17, 2010 | 21:20

    New reality has formed in the South Caucasus - the Nagorno-Karabakh
    peace process will be within the Russia-Azerbaijan-Turkey format, the
    Leader of the Armenian National Congress (ANC), Levon Ter-Petrosyan
    stated at the ANC-held rally in Yerevan on September 17.

    According to him, the OSCE Minsk Group will be preserved not to
    irritate the West. Ter-Petrosyan reminded the participants that it is
    Russia that has the key to settlement. In the context of the Russian
    military base's longer presence in Armenia and the sale of the Russian
    S-300 systems to Azerbaijan, Russia has strengthened its positions and
    enhanced its role in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. According to
    Ter-Petrosyan, Russia and Azerbaijan are now strategic partners.
    Armenia has lost its monopoly - being Russia's principal partner in
    the region. According to the first Armenian President, he forecast all
    this back in 1988. Under the circumstances, the only thing for the
    Armenian authorities to do is to reign themselves to the fate and seek
    fortune in Moscow or Ankara or, to be precise, at the
    Russian-Turkish-Azerbaijani supreme bodies. Although the U.S
    Administration was the only one to challenge Serzh Sargsyan's
    legitimacy in the 2008 elections, the U.S. has been supporting Serzh
    Sargsyan for two years and a half.

    `What is the aim? No comments. It should be stressed that illegitimacy
    and corruption are the leverage the West has used to get the promises
    and concessions on the Armenian-Turkish relations and Nagorno-Karabakh
    peace process. But if the promises fail to be kept, the leverage will
    be used in a different direction. And this time seems to be coming,'
    Ter-Petrosyan said. The incumbent authorities must do the following:
    ensure domestic political liberalization, establish democracy, release
    political prisoners, ensure respect for human rights in Armenia and
    Stepanakert's return to the negotiating table. `Serzh Sargsyan does
    not do any of these things,' Ter-Petrosyan said. Although the ANC is
    for the speediest settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, it
    state that `any decision made without the NKR's participation or one
    that will not be signed by official Stepanakert will not be accepted
    by the Opposition.' Moreover, the agreement on Nagorno-Karabakh must
    be submitted to a referendum both in Armenia and in Nagorno-Karabakh.
    The Opposition is also against ratification of Armenian-Turkish
    protocols unless the point on an Armenian-Turkish committee of
    historians is removed from them.

    In this context, Ter-Petrosyan noted that Serzh Sargsyan has no public
    mandate to make any concessions. First, in his election program he did
    not promise to form a committee of historians nor did he promise that
    Nagorno-Karabakh will remain outside the negotiation process. He did
    not promise the opening of foreign-language schools in Armenia. `He is
    not elected President. The agreement and laws signed by him have no
    legal force' Ter-Petrosyan said. On the other hand, the Opposition
    believes there are still opportunities for a dialogue with the
    authorities. `However, the main condition for this dialogue is,
    besides the release of political prisoners, is a proper investigation
    of the March 1 2008 murders and punishment of those guilty,'
    Ter-Petrosyan said. The only subject of the dialogue is a peaceful
    handover of power to the people. `This is the only possible by means
    of early elections - first presidential and them parliamentary,' the
    Opposition Leader said. Change of power is a matter of principle,
    rather than an end in itself, for the Opposition, he concluded.




    From: A. Papazian
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