Armenian leader not to sign peace deal with Azerbaijan – paper

Armenian leader not to sign peace deal with Azerbaijan – paper

Aykakan Zhamanak, Yerevan
3 Jun 06

Armenian President Robert Kocharyan cannot sign the peace agreement
proposed by the OSCE Minsk Group because it suggests conditions that
cannot be compared even with the approaches proposed in 1997 by
Armenia’s former president, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the Armenian
newspaper Aykakan Zhamanak has said.

The option currently proposed by the OSCE mediators is much more
disadvantageous to Armenia, the paper said. By signing this agreement,
Kocharyan will admit that predictions made by former President Levon
Ter-Petrosyan are now coming true and that “the regime change in 1998
was an ordinary coup”, the paper said.

It went on to say that Kocharyan’s only task at the moment is to
remain in power until his tenure expires in 2008.

In another article on Kocharyan’s forthcoming talks with Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev in Bucharest, Aykakan Zhamanak said that
Kocharyan will not sign a peace agreement with Azerbaijan because he
does not have public support. “He does not know what public support is
because in the eight years of his presidency, he has had everything
but public support,” the newspaper said. He would probably have the
courage to sign an agreement if he was motivated to do so, it
said. Aykakan Zhamanak stressed that Kocharyan could be motivated to
sign an agreement if it confirmed Karabakh’s independence or if the
United States and the international community promised that after
signing the agreement, the governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan would
have confidence during the entire period of their rule. However, these
promises are absolutely worthless because Kocharyan might be deceived
in the end, Aykakan Zhamanak said.

At the same time, he needs titanic courage to refuse to sign the
agreement, the newspaper said.

For this reason, Kocharyan should be cunning and hold the talks in a
way that will not bring about the signing of any document, and at the
same time, make sure that no-one blames him for that, Aykakan Zhamanak
said.