ARMENIA TAKES ISSUE WITH BUSH ADMINISTRATION’S RHETORIC ON KARABAKH
by Emil Sanamyan
Armenian Reporter
October 16, 2008
Armenia
Recently modified language prioritizes "territorial integrity"
U.S. vice president Dick Cheney with Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian
of Armenia in Washington on October 10, 2008. Armenian government photo
Washington – In a meeting with Vice President Dick Cheney in Washington
on October 10, Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian raised concerns on
behalf of Armenia over the recently modified rhetoric of U.S. officials
on Nagorno-Karabakh, the prime minister’s office reported.
It is "extremely dangerous" to emphasize the principle of territorial
integrity at the expense of self-determination when it comes to
Karabakh, Mr. Sarkisian told Mr. Cheney in what amounted to the
first publicly reported criticism of the revised U.S. policy language
by Armenia.
The prime minister was referring, in particular, to remarks delivered
in Baku by Mr. Cheney that a Karabakh settlement "must proceed" from
the principle of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and only then "take
into account other principles." The remarks were apparently drafted
by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matt Bryza, the U.S. co-chair
of the OSCE Minsk Group, which mediates in the Karabakh negotiations.
"If territorial integrity is prioritized, the peace process – all
of the work the mediators have done – becomes meaningless," Prime
Minister Sarkisian told the Armenian Reporter on October 14. "And
this also provokes [Azerbaijan] toward war."
According to Mr. Sarkisian, Mr. Cheney in response reiterated
U.S. support for the peace process.
Evolution of the peace process According to sources familiar with
the details of the peace process, since 1999 its focus has been on
ways that would formalize Karabakh’s separation from Azerbaijan and
reunification with Armenia.
But with Azerbaijan increasingly belligerent, the Karabakh talks in
recent years have shifted toward a "postponed status" for Karabakh,
with an increasingly vague definition of a mechanism for determination
of this status.
Still, while the United States has always voiced support for the
principle of territorial integrity with regard to former Soviet
republics, including Azerbaijan, it has also mentioned the need to
reconcile that principle with other principles.
For example in an August 6, 2007, interview with Russia’s Vremya
Novostei newspaper, Mr. Bryza noted, "There are three main principles
that influence our talks [on Karabakh]: refusal to apply force,
recognition of the territorial integrity of the states, and the right
for self-determination.
"A compromise should be found among these principles," he said,
and added, "I represent [the United States,] a country founded by
separatists."
In the case of Georgia, a close U.S. ally, the United States has
spoken openly in support of Tbilisi’s claims on Abkhazia and South
Ossetia. But U.S. officials – up until recently – have been careful
not to use language that could be deemed to be prejudging the outcome
of the talks on Karabakh’s status.