Former NKR Foreign Minister Arman Melikyan believes that not Aliyev’s statement is dangerous but the fact that up to now when speaking about this-or-that location of the Artsakh territory we of our own free will are using Azerbaijani names. “Aravot” reminded Arman Melikyan that Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev is threatening the Armenian side with new “Lele Tepe”. In response to our question of whether this is not dangerous in terms of the outbreak of a new war, or this is the subsequent Azerbaijani self-affirmation for the domestic audience, our interlocutor said, “Using Azerbaijani names by the Armenian side of their own free will when speaking about specific location of the Artsakh territory is dangerous specifically because even at this level, the readiness of the Armenian side to cede a land in exchange for something indefinite is highlighted as already the use of this hill in Turkish name speaks about the fact that we officially recognize it as someone else’s possession.”
Mr. Melikyan is sure that the Lele-Tepe hill has its Armenian name, and if not then it is marked at least on the military maps under a number. According to Arman Melikyan, the threat of a resumption of war certainly exists, will persist and will grow until new steps ensuring our radical interests and true political consequences are not initiated bin the settlement process by the Armenian side. A day before, RA Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan announced that there is nothing definite about the meeting of the foreign ministers of Armenian and Azerbaijani in Hamburg on December 8-9.
We asked for Mr. Melikyan’s opinion of whether such a meeting will take place, and to what extent it will be effective in this situation. Former NKR Foreign Minister replied, “These people actually have nothing to speak about with each other, and even if they meet, it will only deepen the crisis available in the peace process at this point.”
To our reminder that the Azerbaijan side is constantly announcing that the Armenian side has no desire to organize similar meeting, and the conflict settlement is delayed just because of the Armenian side, Arman Melikyan replied, “The war unleashed by Azerbaijan in April became the wreath of the negotiation process over the settlement option based on the Madrid principles. The political consequence of the April war was that the continuation of the talks with the old agenda is possible only in the case if the political status quo and territories violated in April are restored. Azerbaijan is obviously against it, and the return of Yerevan to the negotiating table with Azerbaijan’s conditions cannot be acceptable in the context of the interests of Armenia. ”
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In this situation, according to Arman Melikyan, only the formation of the new agenda can be a chance to come out of the impasse. We asked whether the replacement of the Minsk Group co-chairs does not pull the Karabakh conflict settlement back. Whether there is a fear that the new co-chairs will start everything all over again, and it will be senseless to expect new developments for some time in terms of conflict settlement.
In this regard, our interlocutor said, “Since December 2007, the previous staffs of co-chairs were persistently pushing forward the option of the proposed settlement based on the Madrid principles, and in fact, the April war became the wreath of their work lasting almost one decade. It is senseless to expect developments in the framework of the existing negotiation agenda. In contrast to this, the new negotiating agenda, in the formation of which the Armenian side has to make its weighty contribution, can move the cart from its place and make the hopes of establishing dignified peace for our peoples realistic.”
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
