“If there is no idea at the table of negotiation, then these negotiations in some sense are doomed,” so commented the “Heritage” faction MP Tevan Poghosyan, in the conversation with Aravot.am, referring to the 6 elements presented by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair James Warlick on the settlement of Karabakh problem. By his comment, “With regard to these elements, today, the NKR Foreign Ministry had given a very precise answer, for which I am very happy that there is no going back to the past.” Recall that the NKR Foreign Ministry’s response noted in its comment that the position of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic on the prospects of settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict remains unchanged. “Any return to the past is out of question. The fate of Nagorno Karabakh has been determined by its people through a free and legitimate expression of will in the 1991 referendum on independence. NKR independence and security are absolute values that are not subject to any bargaining.”
The NKR Foreign Ministry has proposed that the joint efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group should focus on the development of such settlement mechanisms that stem from current realities and provide conditions for the peaceful coexistence of two independent states, the Nagorno Karabakh Republic and Azerbaijan, emerged as a result of the collapse of the USSR and the war unleashed by Azerbaijan. As per Tevan Poghosyan, indeed, the Co-chairs need to come up with new offers and call for the negotiation table. “The people of Nagorno-Karabakh have already made their choice. This choice should be taken into account, rather than trying to put forward and discuss other ideas. The only point of negotiation is that we are all a brilliant to understand that if there is a negotiation, there is no war. Otherwise, the counter idea of rejecting negotiations is the war. No matter whatever is offered to us is acceptable or not, we need to be guided only by our interests.” To our question of whether you agree that we are first time talking about the recommendations put on the table in a more transparent and open manner, Tevan Poghosyan responded, “Actually, these 6 elements are not a secret, they were brought up in a timely manner. It does not contain anything new, but the problem is that these 6 elements are unacceptable for us.”
Hripsime JEBEJYAN
