Published since 07.2002
Published on May 09, 2008
MOVEMENT: NKR ISSUE SEES RENEWED ATTENTION AS MFA GETS ACQUAINTED
- An obvious boost in attention to the problem of Nagorno-Karabakh has been observed in Armenia in recent months. Never before has Stepanakert been visited by Armenia’s parliament speaker and foreign minister one after the other. Such an unprecedented event for Armenian foreign policy happened in April. In late April Nagorno-Karabakh President Bako Sahakyan discussed with Armenia’s newly appointed Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandyan issues connected with the conflict settlement process. First of all, they discussed the need for restoring the format of the negotiating process with Nagorno-Karabakh’s switching the negotiations as a full party. Armenian Parliament Speaker Tigran Torosyan said during his joint press conference with Nagorno-Karabakh Parliament Speaker Ashot Ghulyan that the president and government of Armenia would be offered “to formulate legal bases that would allow to make cooperation of the two Armenian states more effective and create a full possibility for Armenia to assure the security and defense of Nagorno-Karabakh if need be.” In any case, on April 28, Armenia’s lawmakers refused to put on the agenda a bill “On Recognizing the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic” submitted by leader of the opposition Heritage party Raffi Hovannisian, with 64 votes to 15. Among those who voted for the inclusion of the draft legislation on the parliament’s agenda was Victor Dallakyan. “The refusal by Armenian lawmakers to put the issue on the agenda may mean that they are against recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh, which suits the enemies. This issue should be put on the agenda, because it is quite important and then there will be a possibility to discuss the bill at any moment.” Speaker Torosyan was of a different opinion, though: “International recognition of NKR is very important for Armenia. There is hardly a man in Armenia who would object to recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh. But we don’t need a storm in a teacup. Everything has its time, if necessary within seven minutes we will gather the required number of votes of deputies and will pass the bill.” Armen Rustamyan, head of the parliamentary foreign affairs commission, for his turn, reminded that it is the president of Armenia who determines the country’s foreign policy. According to Rustamyan, the commission lead by him had expected the issue to be discussed at the president’s administration and at the Foreign Ministry, however, it did not happen. For this reason, the commission did not make a positive decision on the bill in question. At the same time, Armenia’s parliament continued the discussion of another document immediately concerning Nagorno-Karabakh. This document (proposed by Torosyan) is announced in a more modest way - a statement “On the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. On April 29, the parliament adopted the document with 96 “for” votes. The statement reads that “Armenia is a guarantor of Nagorno-Karabakh’s and peace talks is the only way of settling the conflict. Armenia considers the right of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to self-determination to be indisputable and irreproachable from the point of view of international law and emphasizes the need for an unconditional application of this principle in the settlement process.” Representatives of the Heritage faction voted against the statement. The position of NKR’s former foreign minister and former candidate in Armenia’s presidential elections Arman Melikyan stands out in the context of the discussions connected with the prospect of Armenia’s possible recognition of NKR’s independence. He thinks it necessary: • To turn to the OSCE Minsk Group cochairmen with a proposal that the issue of Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan be put on the agenda of the negotiations; • To recognize as invalid the 1989 decision about including the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region in the Armenian SSR; • To restore the NKR’s participation in the negotiating process held within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group; • Simultaneously with the negotiations conducted in the Minsk Group format, to start talks with the NKR about recognizing of the latter within the existing borders; • In the same format, to discuss the issue about specification and demarcation of the borders between the Republic of Armenia and the NKR. • What may be an argument for the need to “recognize as invalid” the mentioned decision about the unification of Armenia and the NKAR is connected with the change of realities in the course of the war. Whereas the 1989 resolution concerned the unification of the territory of Soviet Armenia and the NKAR, then the modern political-administration division of the NKR implies a considerably larger area. It is this circumstance that is likely to motivate the following provision: “to start talks with the NKR about recognizing of the latter within the existing borders.” The political establishment in Nagorno-Karabakh is getting more active in consonance with the processes in Yerevan. The Democratic Party of Artsakh led by NKR Parliament Speaker Ghulyan held its congress in Stepanakert on May 5. Ghulyan stated that “simultaneously with the negotiating process, the republic’s authorities should initiate a comprehensive process on Nagorno-Karabakh’s international recognition.” The meeting between the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan earlier this week is of particular interest in this aspect. The meeting was the first for the new Armenian minister, Eduard Nalbandyan, an experienced career diplomat who, however, has never been engaged in the Karabakh problem. The meeting was held on the threshold of the 118th plenary session of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers in Strasbourg, France. Before meeting with Elmar Mamedyarov, Nalbandyan on May 5 met with his French counterpart Bernard Kushner in Paris, where he had served for years as Armenia’s ambassador to France. The Karabakh conflict featured prominently on the meeting agenda. “Today, there is a concrete necessity to reaffirm that there is no alternative to a peaceful resolution of the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. I will meet my Azerbaijani counterpart in Strasbourg and I hope that we will continue constructive dialogue with the help of the OSCE Minsk Group cochairmen,” the Armenian minister said. Meanwhile, in an interview with the Azerbaijani APA news agency, the French cochairman of the OSCE Minsk Group Bernard Fassier said that “the meeting of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia would be of a ‘get-acquainted’ nature.” The cochairmen were not going to bring forward any cardinal proposals during that meeting.” “However, we will discuss the issue of our visit to the region as well as the possibility of a meeting between the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia,” the French diplomat said, stressing that there are several variants of the meeting, such as, for example, on the sidelines of the 12th international energy forum due to be held in Russia’s St. Petersburg on June 6-8.
- Aris Ghazinyan
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Today in Armenian history- 1847 Summit Meeting of the representatives of the Transcaucasian Armenian community.
- 1847 With the participation of the gentry and commoners, the National, Ecclesiastic, and Supreme Council is created in Constantinople. It is the first step towards the creation of the "Constitution".
- 1859 A Committee, consisting of 5 clergymen and 14 laymen, is struck in Constantinople to write the "Constitution". The Chariman was Rusinian.
- 1945 End of World War Two (known as the "Great Patriotic War" in the USSR).
- 1964 Death of Vahan Totomyants, professor and public figure.
- 1992 Shooshee (Artsakh) is liberated after 71 years of occupation by Azeri Turks.
- 1994 Protocol negotiated in the Artsakh War and signed in Bishkek (Kirgizstan) by the parliamentary speakers of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Artsakh as mediated by Presidents Boris Yeltsin of Russia and Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan. This was the first recognition of Artsakhs distinctiveness as a political and territorial entity in the negotiations. Azerbaijan occupied 750 sq. km. (15%) of Artsakhs territory, while Artsakh occupied 7059 sq. km. (8%) of territory considered to have traditionally been possessed by Azerbaijan.
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