Foreign Ministry Displays Inability

FOREIGN MINISTRY DISPLAYS INABILITY

Lragir.am
27 June 06

On June 27 the former foreign minister of Armenia Alexander Arzumanyan
commented on the answer of official Yerevan to Mathew Bryza, the
American co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, namely the statements of
the press secretary of the president of Armenia and the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs. According to him, the message of the foreign
ministry of Armenia in answer to Bryza’s statement is simply a display
of inability.

"So, what is said, Lachin was also discussed. Imagine a person is
sentenced to death and says the verdict was not read till the end,
it was not said that the bullet is made of gold," says Alexander
Arzumanyan. According to him, this statement was an effort to dispel
doubts, but it made them deeper, showing that the negotiations are
for the security area of NKR. "In other words, unlike the victorious
policy of not even a patch of land, today the pullout of troops from
all the areas is discussed, which causes worries in both Armenia and
Karabakh," says Alexander Arzumanyan. He stresses that the society
in Karabakh is tense because the issue has not been settled, which
also causes worries because this is a matter of security.

Alexander Arzumanyan says it is not strange that Bryza revealed
the details of the negotiations. "There has always been information
leakage throughout the years of the negotiations. This time it happened
publicly," says Alexander Arzumanyan. He notes that what was revealed
became known to public in one way or another.

"If we view Bryza’s interview and statement in a couple of words,
the message is that the presidents must have courage to explain it
to their publics. Yes, it is possible that an effort is made to
involve the public in a debate, which is a regular thing. If you
can remember, the proposal of debate by Levon Ter-Petrosyan led to
a change of power. Another proposal of debate is made now," says
Alexander Arzumanyan. He is not saying this proposal of debate will
lead to a change of power, but he is not denying it either.

According to Alexander Arzumanyan, it would be perfect if the Karabakh
issue did not become a subject of manipulation in home political
processes in Karabakh. However, according to Alexander Arzumanyan,
the government is responsible for this manipulation.

"The government made Karabakh an instrument for its reproduction,
therefore the other political forces are trying to manipulate the
issue," thinks Alexander Arzumanyan. According to him, home political
processes in Armenia and the Karabakh conflict are interdependent. The
former foreign minister thinks that these two processes must be the
continuation of each other, and the development of one should not harm
the other. In the meantime, the government of Armenia has willfully
replaced Karabakh in the talks, whereas the president of Karabakh does
not seem to be related to this issue at all. "He does not even stay
in Karabakh, he is constantly traveling to different countries. If
you read Karabakh press, you will constantly come across the question
where Arkady Ghukasyan is," says Alexander Arzumanyan. He believes
that the talks will fail unless the situation changes soon. Therefore,
Alexander Arzumanyan underlines the prevention of reproduction of
power in both Armenia and Karabakh.