Khachatur Kokobelyan does not forecast a major impact on the report about the Sarsang reservoir
“It was absolutely correct and appropriate decision. Especially after the statement of the OSCE Minsk Group, it was highly expected that such a decision will be made. The major role-players in the international political arena displayed an adequate approach by assessing that the adoption of similar resolutions does not incur from the NKR peaceful settlement process,” such an opinion was expressed by Chairman of the “Free Democrats” party, NA opposition MP Khachatur Kokobelyan in an interview with “Aravot”, considering the rejection of long-suffering British MP Robert Walter’s report at the PACE yesterday, which did not contribute to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement positive.
Note that Robert Walter’s “The increase in violence in Karabakh and other occupied territories of Azerbaijan” report was rejected by the ration of 70 votes “against” and 66 votes “for”. Our interlocutor does not share the opinion that Azerbaijan’s “caviar diplomacy” had played a decisive role in the preparation of the report because, as he is sure, it was the result of a political decision. Yesterday, at the PACE, however, by the ration of 98 votes “for” and 71 votes “against”, the other report was adopted – the Sarsang Reservoir – by the rapporteur Milica Marković from Bosnia. To the point, it was adopted with the violation of the PACE Charter. One of the main requirements of the Charter is that the rapporteur should mandatorily visit the site.
The main rapporteur several times stated in his speech that he had applied to the Armenian side to come to Armenia for four times and was rejected on various grounds. “I do not think that this person has tried to be in Armenia or Nagorno-Karabakh and had no chance, even though I am aware of only by the level of the statements. But I do not remember a case and do not see the point of it that any representative of any international organization has tried to visit Armenia or NKR and this opportunity was not provided to him,” said our interlocutor, adding that the report on the Sarsang Reservoir cannot have serious effect on the Karabakh conflict settlement and the regional situation. “I do not see purely a water problem there because no one can pocket, even in the case of a great desire. It does not require great efforts from our and the opposite side to prove that the black is white and vice versa,” said Khachatur Kokobelyan.
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He absolutely agree with the statement that the adoption of the report is remarkable only in the context of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue as Ms. Marković voiced accusations in her speech addressed also to the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, saying that they are unable to find options for the settlement of the issue for twenty years, essentially, they are idle. “The Azerbaijani side for years is trying to do everything with its supporters to thwart the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group as it is trying to solve the problem of selling its own desires. It is obvious that Azerbaijan has an inadequate approach to the activities of the Minsk Group.
The only and effective format for the peace settlement of the Karabakh conflict is the format of the Minsk tri-chairs and operating against this format, Azerbaijan shows its non-constructive position. I am sure that the Azerbaijani diplomacy was doing it, so to speak, for the domestic consumption because this issue is not agreed by the desires of Azerbaijan. The recent rhetoric by Azerbaijan’s authorities and the sequence of the steps clearly showed that their aggressive foreign policy, the hostilities on Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh-Azerbaijan borders solve one problem: to keep the power of the Azerbaijani elite. Such behavior does not bring any good to the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, and it is also very visible to the players of various international organizations who are interested in the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Hence, in that sense, I do not see any danger in the adoption of this resolution,” said Khachatur Kokobelyan. It is known that during the last month, the Armenian side, including the deputies, conducted a systematic and active work to neutralize the adoption of these reports.
To the question about the extent of the unit weight of the work by the Armenian side, Khachatur Kokobelyan said that we need to be thankful to everybody who were consistent and persistent in this process but he as in the past, when these reports entered the PACE agenda, so as today thinks that it was the result of the poor work by our delegation. “Such problems are solved as a result of political decisions. Certainly, it was possible to promote to their adoption or neutralization. The Armenian delegation naturally should not have spared efforts to block their entry to the agenda. But, by and large, it did not depend on the work of our delegation. It was purely a political decision depended on the rearrangements going on in the world and regional changes. The reason for this political decision should be sought in another realm,” said our interlocutor, referring to Armenia’s accession to the Eurasian Union, Armenia’s pro-Russian voting at various international platforms and so on.
Nelly GRIGORYAN, “Aravot” daily
