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KARABAKH ARMENIANS INSIST ON FINAL SAY IN PEACE PROCESS
Lusine Musayelian
http://news.google.com/news/search?pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=armenia+OR+Armen ian+OR+armenians+OR+karabakh&cf=all&scoring=n
21.06.2011
Nagorno-Karabakh -- The unrecognized republic's flag flies over the
presidential building in Stepanakert, 18 Jun 2000
Possible peace agreements reached by Armenia and Azerbaijan could
not be put into practice without being approved by Nagorno-Karabakh's
ethnic Armenian leadership, a senior official in Stepanakert warned
on Tuesday.
Georgi Petrosian, foreign minister of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic (NKR), also declined to comment on chances of a breakthrough
at this week's Armenian-Azerbaijani summit in Kazan, Russia. "We are
in a wait-and-see regime," he said.
International mediators hope that Presidents Serzh Sarkisian and Ilham
Aliyev will finalize the basic principles of resolving the Karabakh
conflict at that meeting.
Petrosian did not specify the NKR leadership's position on those
principles put forward by the U.S., Russian and French co-chairs of
the OSCE Minsk Group. Nor would he say how the Karabakh Armenians
will react if Aliyev and Sarkisian cut a deal not acceptable to them.
Nagorno-Karabakh -- Foreign Minister Georgi Petrosian gies a press
conference in Stepanakert, 21Jun2010 Petrosian said only that the
disputed territory should have the final say on any peace accord. "One
can destroy us, but one can't make decisions without us," he told
journalists. "In the latter case, one must say, 'We are ready to
destroy you.' But one must say it openly."
"International documents concerning Karabakh say that the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is a party to the conflict. If we, being
such a party, were able to stop the war and sign a truce [in 1994,]
then we also have the right to build our future, a peaceful future,"
he added.
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian likewise said last week
that the framework accord pushed by the mediators would have to be
approved by the Karabakh Armenians. "It will be impossible to switch
to the second phase [of the peace process] if Karabakh doesn't agree
to the basic principles," he said.
The Minsk Group co-chairs normally visit Stepanakert and meet Karabakh
officials during their regular tours of the conflict zone. However,
Azerbaijan has refused to directly negotiate with the NKR since the
late 1990s, saying that the territory is occupied by Armenia and has
no legitimate government.
Unlike official Yerevan, the Stepanakert government is thought to have
serious misgivings about the peace formula favored by the mediators.
But it has until now avoided voicing them publicly, stressing instead
the need for the NKR's renewed participation in Armenian-Azerbaijani
peace talks.
From: Baghdasarian
Lusine Musayelian
http://news.google.com/news/search?pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=armenia+OR+Armen ian+OR+armenians+OR+karabakh&cf=all&scoring=n
21.06.2011
Nagorno-Karabakh -- The unrecognized republic's flag flies over the
presidential building in Stepanakert, 18 Jun 2000
Possible peace agreements reached by Armenia and Azerbaijan could
not be put into practice without being approved by Nagorno-Karabakh's
ethnic Armenian leadership, a senior official in Stepanakert warned
on Tuesday.
Georgi Petrosian, foreign minister of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic (NKR), also declined to comment on chances of a breakthrough
at this week's Armenian-Azerbaijani summit in Kazan, Russia. "We are
in a wait-and-see regime," he said.
International mediators hope that Presidents Serzh Sarkisian and Ilham
Aliyev will finalize the basic principles of resolving the Karabakh
conflict at that meeting.
Petrosian did not specify the NKR leadership's position on those
principles put forward by the U.S., Russian and French co-chairs of
the OSCE Minsk Group. Nor would he say how the Karabakh Armenians
will react if Aliyev and Sarkisian cut a deal not acceptable to them.
Nagorno-Karabakh -- Foreign Minister Georgi Petrosian gies a press
conference in Stepanakert, 21Jun2010 Petrosian said only that the
disputed territory should have the final say on any peace accord. "One
can destroy us, but one can't make decisions without us," he told
journalists. "In the latter case, one must say, 'We are ready to
destroy you.' But one must say it openly."
"International documents concerning Karabakh say that the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is a party to the conflict. If we, being
such a party, were able to stop the war and sign a truce [in 1994,]
then we also have the right to build our future, a peaceful future,"
he added.
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian likewise said last week
that the framework accord pushed by the mediators would have to be
approved by the Karabakh Armenians. "It will be impossible to switch
to the second phase [of the peace process] if Karabakh doesn't agree
to the basic principles," he said.
The Minsk Group co-chairs normally visit Stepanakert and meet Karabakh
officials during their regular tours of the conflict zone. However,
Azerbaijan has refused to directly negotiate with the NKR since the
late 1990s, saying that the territory is occupied by Armenia and has
no legitimate government.
Unlike official Yerevan, the Stepanakert government is thought to have
serious misgivings about the peace formula favored by the mediators.
But it has until now avoided voicing them publicly, stressing instead
the need for the NKR's renewed participation in Armenian-Azerbaijani
peace talks.
From: Baghdasarian