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A EUROPEAN PLATFORM FOR A DIALOGUE, EXCHANGE OF OPINIONS, AND PRESENTATION OF THE KARABAKH APPROACHES
http://artsakhtert.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1430: a-european-platform-for-a-dialogue-exchange-of-opinions-and-presentation-of-the-karabakh-approaches&catid=5:politics&Itemid=17
Tuesday, 15 April 2014 16:01
The April 9 press-conference held by NKR NA Speaker Ashot Ghulyan was
dedicated to the visit of the headed-by-him delegation to Germany,
the results of the meetings, and the events in Berlin.
The NKR delegation comprised Deputy Foreign Minister Felix Khachatryan
and NKR Permanent Representative to Germany Harutyun Grigoryan.
The delegation was invited to attend an information seminar-conference
organized by the Berlin European Academy, which also provided the
possibility of holding meetings and discussions with the German
colleagues.
The RA Embassy to Germany, the Armenian organizations operating in the
country, Doctoral of the Free University of Berlin Andranik Aslanyan
facilitated the meetings. Prior to the event, an exhibition of works
by over ten artists from Artsakh opened April 1 at the lobby of the
Berlin European Academy. According to the NA Speaker, this kind of
cultural event was organized for the first time in Germany, which
is the best proof that Karabakh lives not only with the issue of
the conflict settlement, but also fully realizes all the functions
related to the statehood development.
As a whole, the information seminar-conference was held on the topic
"The Role and Significance of Nagorno Karabakh in the Development
of the South Caucasus", and in the first part, the Artsakh
Parliament Speaker delivered a speech on "Nagorno Karabakh Today:
the Expectations, Concerns, and Prospects". Chairman Ghulyan noted
that the participants had been interested in the current situation in
the conflict settlement process, the concern of the Artsakh party, and
its vision of the future, noting that the main aspects of his speech
had supplemented their perceptions of the unrecognized Republic. The
speech was mainly focused on three points - the reasons of delaying
the peace process, the basic result of the 20-year cease-fire, and the
invariable goals of the NKR. The participants' attention was drawn
to the fact that the goals of the Artsakh people had not changed,
i.e. we strive for the international recognition of the NKR and to
achieve it, we try to use all the possible means.
According to the Parliament Speaker, the visit to Germany, in
particular, the seminar-conference, the meetings with representatives
of the legislature of the Federal Republic pursued these goals.
The second part of the seminar envisaged a dispute, the key idea of
which was that any conflict has a chance to be settled.
Besides the Chairman of the NKR National Assembly, three participants
were also invited. Among them was well-known to the people of Artsakh
Professor of the Hamburg University, Doctor of Laws Otto Luchterhandt
who had repeatedly visited Artsakh and participated in scientific
conferences here. His viewpoint is based on the domination of the
right to self-determination. Another participant, Wolfgang Burns, was
the oldest and most experienced member of Bundestag until September
2013, is the author of the book "A Sample with Small Flaws", which
is available at our Parliament. For many years, he had headed the
Caucasus Issues Committee at the German Parliament. Last year, he
arrived in the NKR for a few hours and presented his impressions with
great enthusiasm. The third participant, Uwe Holbach, represents the
German Science and Policy Foundation; he visited Artsakh with a group
of experts two years ago. From the German side, the seminar-conference
was attended by influential persons in this country, thanks to whom
the debate was interesting. The German friends delivered speeches
and presented their views on the Karabakh conflict settlement.
Asking questions was planned for the third part of the seminar. The
entrance to the conference was free, and this benefited the Azeris:
there were 15 of them, generally experts and students who live, study,
and work in Berlin. They were led by the famous Azerbaijani lobbyist
in Europe, V. Seidov.
Mr. Ghulyan noted that some of the questions had been addressed to
him, and some - to the German specialists. Basically, the questions
were asked by the Azerbaijanis who were especially active.
They planned beforehand to deliver a speech to present their viewpoint,
trying to oppose the speakers. First of all, it was directed against
the organizers of the event, primarily against the Rector of the
Berlin European Academy, whom they accused of a one-sided approach
to the issue.
The NA Chairman called their arguments rather weak, noting that his
speech and the German participants' viewpoints had already impressed
the audience, and the anti-Armenian position of the Azerbaijanis
was quite clear. However, the European political culture allows to
represent equally the positions of the parties to the conflict. The
Berlin European Academy's event showed that the frames of the German
analytical, expert, and scientific circles leave "open window" for
voicing opinions. And everybody can make hisown conclusions.
According to Mr. Ghulyan, the event was quite successful and the
Azerbaijani activeness was exaggerated, which led to the opposite
effect. The debate participants retorted the Azeri viewpoint, thus
proving that it was far from the reality.
So, in response to the speeches of the Azerbaijanis, Mr.
Holbach presented strong languages regarding the totalitarian regime
in Azerbaijan, the undemocratic elections held there, the Azerbaijani
system of values alien and incomprehensible to the international
community. His remark to the Azerbaijanis was as follows: with your
wrong position, bellicose rhetoric, unfounded territorial claims, you
will just make the Karabakh people to toughen still more their stance.
What do this kind of events give? According to Ashot Ghulyan,
they primarily are a platform for a dialogue, exchange of views,
and presentation of our stance and approaches. He noted with regret
that our neighbor's political and legal justification of the Karabakh
issue remains unchanged so far. According to him, such events are
extremely important, because at such platforms the NKR presents its
viewpoint directly, without any mediated bonds, which allows the
European public and political circles to make a full idea of the
position and arguments of the parties to the conflict.
This course, as Mr. Ghulyan noted, should be conducted also in
non-European countries, slowly, but consistently presenting our
position and approaches.
On April 2-3, a series of meetings were held at the Bundestag, which
has been already made public. At the end, the NKR Parliament Speaker
shared his own impressions, noting the readiness of the Bundestag
members to intensify the bilateral ties and relations.
An agreement on permanent exchange of information was achieved with
the German MPs.
In Potsdam, Mr. Ghulyan visited the house-museum of Johan Lepsius
and got acquainted with the activities of Lepsius House NGO.
The house-museum periodically hosts meetings and scientific
conferences dedicated to Armenian issues, in particular, to the
Armenian Genocide. The parties agreed to hold an event, dedicated to
the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, at the Artsakh State
University in the fall.
Meetings with the organizations of the Armenian community of Berlin
were also held.
Having presented the details of the visit, the Chairman of the National
Assembly answered the journalists' questions.
Ruzan ISHKHANIAN
From: A. Papazian
http://artsakhtert.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1430: a-european-platform-for-a-dialogue-exchange-of-opinions-and-presentation-of-the-karabakh-approaches&catid=5:politics&Itemid=17
Tuesday, 15 April 2014 16:01
The April 9 press-conference held by NKR NA Speaker Ashot Ghulyan was
dedicated to the visit of the headed-by-him delegation to Germany,
the results of the meetings, and the events in Berlin.
The NKR delegation comprised Deputy Foreign Minister Felix Khachatryan
and NKR Permanent Representative to Germany Harutyun Grigoryan.
The delegation was invited to attend an information seminar-conference
organized by the Berlin European Academy, which also provided the
possibility of holding meetings and discussions with the German
colleagues.
The RA Embassy to Germany, the Armenian organizations operating in the
country, Doctoral of the Free University of Berlin Andranik Aslanyan
facilitated the meetings. Prior to the event, an exhibition of works
by over ten artists from Artsakh opened April 1 at the lobby of the
Berlin European Academy. According to the NA Speaker, this kind of
cultural event was organized for the first time in Germany, which
is the best proof that Karabakh lives not only with the issue of
the conflict settlement, but also fully realizes all the functions
related to the statehood development.
As a whole, the information seminar-conference was held on the topic
"The Role and Significance of Nagorno Karabakh in the Development
of the South Caucasus", and in the first part, the Artsakh
Parliament Speaker delivered a speech on "Nagorno Karabakh Today:
the Expectations, Concerns, and Prospects". Chairman Ghulyan noted
that the participants had been interested in the current situation in
the conflict settlement process, the concern of the Artsakh party, and
its vision of the future, noting that the main aspects of his speech
had supplemented their perceptions of the unrecognized Republic. The
speech was mainly focused on three points - the reasons of delaying
the peace process, the basic result of the 20-year cease-fire, and the
invariable goals of the NKR. The participants' attention was drawn
to the fact that the goals of the Artsakh people had not changed,
i.e. we strive for the international recognition of the NKR and to
achieve it, we try to use all the possible means.
According to the Parliament Speaker, the visit to Germany, in
particular, the seminar-conference, the meetings with representatives
of the legislature of the Federal Republic pursued these goals.
The second part of the seminar envisaged a dispute, the key idea of
which was that any conflict has a chance to be settled.
Besides the Chairman of the NKR National Assembly, three participants
were also invited. Among them was well-known to the people of Artsakh
Professor of the Hamburg University, Doctor of Laws Otto Luchterhandt
who had repeatedly visited Artsakh and participated in scientific
conferences here. His viewpoint is based on the domination of the
right to self-determination. Another participant, Wolfgang Burns, was
the oldest and most experienced member of Bundestag until September
2013, is the author of the book "A Sample with Small Flaws", which
is available at our Parliament. For many years, he had headed the
Caucasus Issues Committee at the German Parliament. Last year, he
arrived in the NKR for a few hours and presented his impressions with
great enthusiasm. The third participant, Uwe Holbach, represents the
German Science and Policy Foundation; he visited Artsakh with a group
of experts two years ago. From the German side, the seminar-conference
was attended by influential persons in this country, thanks to whom
the debate was interesting. The German friends delivered speeches
and presented their views on the Karabakh conflict settlement.
Asking questions was planned for the third part of the seminar. The
entrance to the conference was free, and this benefited the Azeris:
there were 15 of them, generally experts and students who live, study,
and work in Berlin. They were led by the famous Azerbaijani lobbyist
in Europe, V. Seidov.
Mr. Ghulyan noted that some of the questions had been addressed to
him, and some - to the German specialists. Basically, the questions
were asked by the Azerbaijanis who were especially active.
They planned beforehand to deliver a speech to present their viewpoint,
trying to oppose the speakers. First of all, it was directed against
the organizers of the event, primarily against the Rector of the
Berlin European Academy, whom they accused of a one-sided approach
to the issue.
The NA Chairman called their arguments rather weak, noting that his
speech and the German participants' viewpoints had already impressed
the audience, and the anti-Armenian position of the Azerbaijanis
was quite clear. However, the European political culture allows to
represent equally the positions of the parties to the conflict. The
Berlin European Academy's event showed that the frames of the German
analytical, expert, and scientific circles leave "open window" for
voicing opinions. And everybody can make hisown conclusions.
According to Mr. Ghulyan, the event was quite successful and the
Azerbaijani activeness was exaggerated, which led to the opposite
effect. The debate participants retorted the Azeri viewpoint, thus
proving that it was far from the reality.
So, in response to the speeches of the Azerbaijanis, Mr.
Holbach presented strong languages regarding the totalitarian regime
in Azerbaijan, the undemocratic elections held there, the Azerbaijani
system of values alien and incomprehensible to the international
community. His remark to the Azerbaijanis was as follows: with your
wrong position, bellicose rhetoric, unfounded territorial claims, you
will just make the Karabakh people to toughen still more their stance.
What do this kind of events give? According to Ashot Ghulyan,
they primarily are a platform for a dialogue, exchange of views,
and presentation of our stance and approaches. He noted with regret
that our neighbor's political and legal justification of the Karabakh
issue remains unchanged so far. According to him, such events are
extremely important, because at such platforms the NKR presents its
viewpoint directly, without any mediated bonds, which allows the
European public and political circles to make a full idea of the
position and arguments of the parties to the conflict.
This course, as Mr. Ghulyan noted, should be conducted also in
non-European countries, slowly, but consistently presenting our
position and approaches.
On April 2-3, a series of meetings were held at the Bundestag, which
has been already made public. At the end, the NKR Parliament Speaker
shared his own impressions, noting the readiness of the Bundestag
members to intensify the bilateral ties and relations.
An agreement on permanent exchange of information was achieved with
the German MPs.
In Potsdam, Mr. Ghulyan visited the house-museum of Johan Lepsius
and got acquainted with the activities of Lepsius House NGO.
The house-museum periodically hosts meetings and scientific
conferences dedicated to Armenian issues, in particular, to the
Armenian Genocide. The parties agreed to hold an event, dedicated to
the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, at the Artsakh State
University in the fall.
Meetings with the organizations of the Armenian community of Berlin
were also held.
Having presented the details of the visit, the Chairman of the National
Assembly answered the journalists' questions.
Ruzan ISHKHANIAN
From: A. Papazian