The
leader of National Union party Artashes Geghamian marks.We asked Artashes
Geghamian to interpret some questions of parliamentary hearings on "The Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. Ways of settlement" theme. Mr. Gehamian answered that "for
giving appraisals to these hearings we must return to the 2 of November, 1997
when Levon Ter-Petrosian’s analyzing article "War or Peace, the moment of
becoming serious" was published in the "Republic of Armenia" and
other newspapers. We are just in the same point of departure after 7,5 years because
any alternative solution wasn’t suggested as in 1997 as well as during the parliamentary
hearings on the settlement of the conflict. A number of technical activities were
only mentioned. While the ideology of settling the conflict wasn’t discussed which
not only would be adaptable and understandable for our population but would also
have its weighty role in those international organizations, which are able to
solve this problem.In reality we only have that the RA insists on the principle
of nations’ self-determination as it did 16 years ago when the Movement began.
And the Azerbaijani part sees the settlement of the conflict round the principle
of territorial integrity. The following years must make clear that this problem
can’t be solved in the field of international law. It will have political solution,
which means that all our diplomacy and propaganda must persuade and prove those
international organizations the accuracy of approaches of the Armenian part.
The main purpose of the hearings was to make understand something to the diplomatic
corps. It was proved once again that the National Assembly had been used as an
instrument and the issue as the National Union declared before the hearings had
been decided by Kocharian. What problems did Mr. Kocharian and Mr. Sargsian tried
to solve? First of all Mr. Kocharian can be considered as the most steady politician
of the political elite of Armenia in front of diplomatic personnel and international
organizations. There is an intention to show to the international community that
in case of changeover of political powers what kind of moods will be predominant
in NK issue. So if the international community is interested in the peaceful settlement
of this conflict it mustn’t take attention to the opposition political powers.
The second problem is that to produce Serge Sargsian to the international community
as a peaceful, steady and clever politician and make the existance of the couple
Robert Kocharian-Serge Sargsian inseparable. The third problem is that they
try to produce the blockaded negotiations as a victory. And the diplomatic achievement
of Azerbaijan is that it has managed to include such international organizations
as the PACE, the Islamic conference and the UN General Assembly in the settlement
of the conflict. But Serge Sargsian interprets this reality as if we have success
in the OSCE Minsk group and Azerbaijan wants to break status quo and discuss the
problem in other instances. There is a question if it is possible to consider
a deadlocked issue as a success and if the international community is ready to
take long this situation. Neither EU nor the USA and Russian Federation will take
the long keeping of status quo. The existance of status quo has already caused
extreme dangerous conclusions to the Armenian economy. That means that the Republic
of Armenia can’t compete with Azerbaijan economically as Ilham Aliev has said
publicly for many times. "Nezavisimaia voennaia obozrenia" has mentioned
one of its issues that the military budget of Azerbaijan is more for two times
from the budget of Armenia. And this is before expropriation of the gas and oil
pipelines. There is another dangerous problem. The construction of Baku-Astara-Karzvin
railway is going to be begun which aims to connect Russia and the Eastern Europe
with India and China passing through the territory of Iran and Afghanistan. And
Armenia is out of these projects. And now after 7,5 years we are again in the
"War or Peace: the moment of becoming serious" point of departure. In
this case this is the moment of becoming serious for R. Kocharian, Serge Sargsian
and Vardan Oskanian.Anna Israelian