Armenian FM responds to Azerbaijan’s accusations
19:42 ¢ 14.12.12
At a press conference following a meeting with his Polish, Swedish and
Bulgarian counterparts – RadosÅ?aw Sikorski, Carl Bildt and Nikolay
Mladenov ` Armenian FM Edward Nalbandian presented the issues on the
meeting agenda and commented on the statement on Nagorno-Karabakh in
Dublin.
`We have completed negotiations for facilitating visa requirements and
plan to sign relevant agreements in a few days. We also discussed the
summit to be held in Vilnius and a number of regional and
international problems. I informed my counterparts of the
Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.’
As regards Azerbaijan’s accusations against Armenia after the meeting
in Dublin ` that Armenia torpedoed the adoption of a five-sided
statement ` the Armenian FM said:
`I would offer you to compare the speeches by the Armenian and
Azerbaijani FMs in Dublin. You can see that the Armenian FM’s
statements are in harmony with the one by the heads of the co-chairing
states’ delegations.
`What about Azerbaijan’s minister? They are listening to themselves.
This is not the first time that a five-sided statement has failed to
be adopted. In 2010, a five-sided statement was drafted in Amlaty, but
Azerbaijan was insisting on the priority of territorial integrity over
the other principles. The result was a trilateral statement wherein
the co-chairs stressed that the three principles were a single whole,
and none of them could be viewed as superior to the others.
`This time, the Azerbaijani side did not even want to mention the
three principles ` nonuse of force or threat of force, territorial
integrity and self-determination. The result? No five-sided statement
was made, but a trilateral one was. Moreover, Armenia welcomes the
co-chairs’ statement in Dublin, and we can state the same.’
From: A. Papazian