NATO SUMMIT APPROVES DECLARATION DENOUNCED BY ARMENIA
Emil Danielyan, Sargis Harutyunyan
22.11.2010
Portugal — General view of delegates attending a working session on
the second day of the NATO Summit in Lisbon, 20 Nov 2010
The leaders of NATO~Rs 28 member states singled out Azerbaijan~Rs
territorial integrity as the guiding principle of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict~Rs resolution in a weekend declaration denounced by Armenia
but welcomed in Azerbaijan.
A senior Azerbaijani official on Monday portrayed that as further
proof that Armenia is an ~Saggressor state.~T Leading Armenian
opposition groups were also quick to pounce on what they called a
serious diplomatic setback for Yerevan.
The wide-ranging declaration adopted at a NATO summit held in
Lisbon on Saturday, says: ~SWe remain committed in our support of
the territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty of Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Georgia and the Republic of Moldova, and will also continue
to support efforts towards a peaceful settlement of these regional
conflicts, taking into account these principles.~T
Portugal — A family picture after the NAC (North Atlantic Council)
meeting in Lisbon, 19Nov2010
Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian boycotted the summit in protest
against this general reference to unresolved ethnic disputes in the
former Soviet Union. His spokesman, Armen Arzumanian, warned on Friday
that it will complicate international efforts to broker a peaceful
solution to the Karabakh conflict.
Arzumanian argued that United States and another key NATO member,
France, advocate a Karabakh settlement based on territorial integrity
and two other internationally recognized principles: peoples~R right
to self-determination and non-use of force. A combination of these
principles is at the heart of a framework peace accord put forward
by the U.S., Russian and French co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group.
NATO officials have still not reacted to Sarkisian~Rs dramatic move.
Armenia was represented at the summit by Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandian and Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian.
The two ministers attended only a session of the summit devoted to
the situation in Afghanistan. Nalbandian did not mention Karabakh in
his speech at that meeting.
The Azerbaijani government did not officially react to the Lisbon
declaration. Still, the deputy executive secretary of the ruling Yeni
Azerbaycan Party, Mubariz Gurbanli, hailed it as ~Squite significant.~T
Portugal — Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev arrives with his wife
Mehriban to attend the NATO Summit in Lisbon, 19Nov2010
~SThe adoption of this document is an open message to circles
infringing on Azerbaijan~Rs territorial integrity, and it confirms
that Armenia is an aggressor state,~T Gurbanli told the APA news
agency. He called it a ~Ssuccess for our diplomacy.~T
Representatives of Armenia~Rs leading opposition forces likewise
described the NATO declaration as a serious blow to the Armenian
position on the Karabakh conflict. ~SThe Armenian side failed
to make sure that all three principles, notably the principle of
self-determination, are included in this document,~T said Vladimir
Karapetian, the foreign policy spokesman for the Armenian National
Congress (HAK).
~SThis means a serious change in NATO~Rs attitude to the conflict
because in all its statements issued for over ten years, NATO had
echoed the positions and approaches of the OSCE Minsk Group,~T
Karapetian told RFE/RL~Rs Armenian service. ~SNow NATO has its
own approach and this could have very serious consequences for the
conflict~Rs resolution.~T
Giro Manoyan, a senior member of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), said the declaration shows the Sarkisian
administration has failed to boost Armenia~Rs standing in the West
despite his policy of rapprochement with Turkey. ~SThe fact is that
that standing is not quite high because they just don~Rt listen to
our views,~T he told RFE/RL.
Manoyan added that Yerevan should retaliate by formally annulling
the Western-backed Turkish-Armenian normalization protocols signed a
year ago. ~SThis is yet another occasion for Armenia to withdraw its
signature from the protocols with Turkey so that they start treating
us seriously in NATO,~T he said.
A parliament deputy from Sarkisian~Rs Republican Party of Armenia
(HHK) insisted, meanwhile, that the NATO support for Azerbaijan~Rs
territorial integrity is not a setback for Yerevan. Gagik Melikian
argued that both the U.S. and France stand by the Minsk Group~Rs
existing peace plan that upholds the Karabakh Armenians~R right to
self-determination.
~SI don~Rt consider this a diplomatic defeat,~T Melikian told a news
conference on Saturday. ~SOn the contrary, I consider this yet another
important and positive step on the path to our diplomatic victory.~T
Portugal/Armenia – Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian (L) meets with
his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov on the sidelines of
NATO summit in Lisbon, 20Nov2010
The two opposition figures disagreed on practical implications of the
NATO document. Manoyan suggested that it will not have a ~Sfundamental
impact~T on the Karabakh peace process, while Karapetian predicted
that Baku will toughen its stance ahead of the December 1-2 OSCE
summit in Kazakhstan~Rs capital Astana.
The mediating powers and Russia in particular hope that Sarkisian and
Azerbaijan~Rs President Ilham Aliyev will bridge their differences
over the peace formula proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs in time
for the summit.
In an apparent effort to nudge the conflicting parties closer to
a long-waited peace deal, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
hosted fresh talks between his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts
in Moscow on Monday. Official sources in the three countries gave no
details of the meeting.
Nalbandian and Azerbaijan~Rs Elmar Mammadyarov already had a brief
conversation on the sidelines of the Lisbon summit.
From: A. Papazian