ARKADY GHUKASYAN: PEOPLE SAY THE DEFINITIVE WORD
Azat Artsakh Daily, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]
11-06-2007
On June 7 NKR President Ghukasian met with the co-chairs of the OSCE
Minsk Group Matthew Bryza, Bernard Fassier and Yuri Merzlyakov at the
Permanent Representation of NKR to Armenia. The co-chairs said the
negotiations are slow, and it is necessary to make progress, which they
expect from the conflict sides. The NKR president presented the stance
of the Karabakh side. Arkady Ghukasian said it is necessary to restore
the format of the OSCE summit in Budapest, since the talks without
Karabakh cannot produce the anticipated results. The NKR president
emphasized the status is the basic issue of the negotiations, the other
issues are the consequences of the conflict, and it is necessary to
reach more precision in formulation of issues under consideration.
Arkady Ghukasian maintained it is impossible to reach a compromise in
this atmosphere of hatred and lack of confidence between the parties.
He proposed to the mediators to get guarantees from the sides against
use of force and threat. The co-chairs thanked for the detailed talk
and said they share the concerns of the Karabakh side. After the
meeting, which lasted for over two hours, NKR President Ghukasian said:
`I presented our stance. I assure our stance has not changed: it is
pointless to discuss any other issue unless there is agreement on the
status of Nagorno-Karabakh.’ Although Arkady Ghukasian thinks the talks
between Azerbaijan and Armenia are not realistic, he said: `We thought
if it is easier for Azerbaijan to talk to Armenia and to negotiate the
status of Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, we can allow that. But these
hopes were not justified.’ As to the optimism of the mediators,
according to Ghukasian, it is difficult to anticipate developments
unless the mediators are optimistic. `But I did not have an impression
that the mediators expect the meeting in Saint Petersburg to be
crucial. Everyone understands the current situation does not presuppose
it. There is hope, the mediators said.’ In answer to the question if
the recent statement by Matthew Bryza about the pullout of force,
corridor and afterwards status was discussed with the co-chairs and if
this order matters, Ghukasian said: `We are not ready to discuss any
other issue unless there is agreement on the status of Karabakh,. It is
another problem that the territories are on the agenda, and it does not
depend on us. We cannot avoid discussing the issues that worry
Azerbaijan but for its part Azerbaijan must discuss the issues that
worry us. Number one issue for us is status and security.’ According to
the NKR President, the issues of territories and refugees are the
consequences and not the cause of the conflict. `The conflict existed
when there were no liberated territories and a problem of refugees. And
if the sides do not have a clear-cut approach towards the basic issue,
it is pointless to discuss the issues which are the consequences of the
war.’ The Nagorno-Karabakh issue cannot have a subjective basis, it has
an objective basis: Azerbaijan waged a war against Karabakh, Azerbaijan
lost the war and this status quo occurred. According to Arkady
Ghukasian, Azerbaijan uses the negotiations with Armenia for
propaganda, to show that Armenia is an aggressor. `I am disappointed
with the stance of Azerbaijan¦ You see, the impression is (or an
artificial impression is made) that Karabakh is indifferent towards its
fate because it agreed and accepted this format. We cannot impose it on
Armenia, Azerbaijan or the mediators. The mediators have, for instance,
repeated for several times it is not their fault Karabakh is not
negotiating with Azerbaijan. The OSCE Chairman-in-Office told me the
same thing. I certainly reminded that they must honor the decisions of
the OSCE summit instructing the co-chairs to negotiate with all the
sides of the conflict. Meanwhile, they maintain they do not make
decisions, Armenia and Azerbaijan decided,’ says the NKR president.
Anyway, the people of Karabakh will say the definitive word, Ghukasian
said. `We could state we don’t care for the talks between Armenia and
Azerbaijan because we do not take part in the talks. But it is not
constructive. In this case they would accuse Karabakh of the failure of
the talks.’
11-06-2007