“Aravot” talked to former NKR Foreign Minister Arman Melikyan about the latest developments in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement
– Mr. Melikyan, at the G20 the summit, Ilham Aliyev accused Armenia of carrying out terrorist acts. How can the platform used for the statement and the current situation (I mean the geopolitical developments in Europe and Syria) effect the solution of the Karabakh conflict settlement?
– The alarming situation even created in the regions adjacent to Armenia cannot provide additional advantages to Azerbaijan and Ilham Aliyev’s speech, in this view, would hardly give him any tangible results, the speech dedication to the Armenian terrorism of a country leader that has organized the second genocide of our fellow-citizens by the invitation of the country that has organized the first Armenian Genocide only makes the resemblance of the practice of the Turkish and Azerbaijani authorities vivid. What I truly worry about is only the bleak posture of Armenia.
– Recently, the discussion of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s visit to Armenia is underway, and there are opinions that the Russian authorities are discussing with the authorities of Armenia the issue of returning the section called “occupied territories” by Azerbaijan to Baku, allegedly to ensure stability in the region (many people believe that Russia wants to involve Azerbaijan into the Eurasian Union). How realistic is this scenario? What is now the role of Russia in the Karabakh conflict settlement?
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– Armenian authorities have long ago given their consent to hand over the big part of Artsakh’s current constitutional territory to the opponent, if Baku officially agrees to recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh. This approach is unacceptable for many reasons, but this is the official posture of today’s authorities of Armenia. And this means that new discussions with Russian Foreign Minister on this issue would make sense only if Russia decides that Armenians should transfer these territories to Azerbaijan without fulfilments of the precondition to recognizing Artsakh. This option is less likely. Perhaps, this time, we need to believe the statement by Russian Embassy to Armenia, which specifically mentions that Mr. Lavrov has not discussed the issue of handing over the territories in Yerevan.
– NKR President Bako Sahakyan announced at the Armenian Embassy to Moscow that the international community and especially the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship is obliged to take into account the willingness of NKR authorities to highly demanded participation in the negotiation process. Willingness and the potentials for its implementation. How realistic is the question that was raised in a course of many years that should be fulfilled now? What are the results when they are fulfilled?
– This requirement may be possible to fulfil if the NKR authorities urge Yerevan officially to present the mediators as a necessary and non-negotiable precondition for continuing the negotiations. Apparently, judging from everything, Armenia is not yet ready for making such a move.
HRIPSIME HOVHANNISYAN,
“Aravot” daily
