LACHIN’S RETURN OR REFERENDUM AREN’T "THE UNSETTLED POINT" IN THE NEGOTIATION PROCESS
By Aghavni Haroutiunian
AZG Armenian Daily
08/12/2006
In the interview to "Day.az" agency, Elmar Mamediarov, Foreign
Minister of Azerbaijan commented on in his recent statement in which
he said that there is only one issue concerning the main principles
of the Nagorno Karabakh settlement that remained unsettled in the
negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. In Particular, he said
that he wished he could have done that any time he wanted, but he
needs to keep the details of the negotiations in secret, taking into
account the feelings of the Armenian and the Azeri peoples, though
there become less unsettled points.
In this context, Mamediarov emphaszied the importance of unvailing
the secret details of the negotiations, " as a movement of liberating
the territories and returning the refugees in the future." He added
that when the common agreement is achieved, the theme of the agreement
will be widely discussed, as no long term agreement will be achieved
without the concent of the society.
In response to the question whether "the unsettled issue" concerns
the deadline for the referendum for the status of the Nagorno
Karabakh. It’s worth mentioning that the Armenian side demands
5 years for that, while the Azeri side insists on 15 years. As
for returning Lachin region to Azerbaijan as the second variant,
Mamediarov rejected that. Thus, the so called "unsettled point" that
hinders the negotiations concerns neither the returning of Lachin
nor the referendum that may be held in 5 or 15 years.
Mamediarov also touched upon the GUAM statement concerning the
coinstitutional referendum in Nagorno Karabakh. It’s worth mentioning
that the GUAM member states didn’t support the referendum. According to
Mamediarov, there is a contradiction between the negotiation process
and the referendum. Besides, he expressed doubts that the Armenian
side is cincere.
Perhaps, we need to remind to Mamediarov that Ilham Aliev and
he himseld do not negotiate with the political subject where the
constitutional referendum will be held on December 10.