Armenian society uncertain about authorities’ position on Karabakh peace – expert
The Armenian society is not absolutely confident that its position on Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) is being considered in the peace process, according to an international expert.
Speaking to Tert.am, Hovhannes Igityan, a former head of the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Foreign Relations, highlighted the urgent need of presenting the Artsakh people's real intentions and attitudes in the course of the negotiations.
Commenting on the steps proposed by Ambassador Richard Hoagland, now a former co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Igityan noted that the repeat the 2007 Madrid Principles which have changed over the course of time.
“Both the leadership and society of Artsakh have their own opinion; they are simply not allowed, at times, to present them in a full-scale format. Our main problem deals with the fact that Artsakh has not only been excluded from the negotiation process but also has been totally forgotten. The proposed mechanisms for settlement contain many clauses which logically raise disagreements in Karabakh. Any security-related talks sound too abstract to many, whereas they are part of the routine life for people in Artsakh. This is why we often hear Artsakh voice its disagreements, considering especially Azerbaijan’s increasingly aggressive behavior.”
Igityan said he sees that Artsakh considers also Azerbaijan’s continuing armament race, a fact which, in his opinion, clearly demonstrates that the country is interested in the Madrid Principles to the extent that they propose the return of not only the liberated regions but also the entire territory of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.
“That is the essence behind all the statements by Azerbaijan. And here is where we see the cause underlying behind the unsettled conflict. Azerbaijan makes repeated threats, resorting to blackmail to voice its willingness to resolve the problem,” he noted.
What angers the Nagorno-Karabakh society are the clauses proposing the handover of security zones in return for status, Igityan continued. “That was a kind of trick by Azerbaijan, allowing it to suspend any negotiations at any moment to embark on a military solution in a situation potentially increasing its advantages,” he said.
The expert described Hoagland’s proposal as an attempt to divert Armenia’s attention from more urgent matters. “There is a more important thing that has changed for more than a year. The key point today is not a compromise-based solution. The issue on the agenda is what to do to prevent Azerbaijan from breaching the key principle of reaching a peaceful solution to the problem.”
Igityan said he doesn’t think any negotiations are going on at the moment to allow for substantial discussions.
Anyway, if the peace process nonetheless resumes, Armenia must be opposed to signing any provision to which Nagorno-Karabakh hasn’t given consent, Igityan said. “Even under the present condition when Karabakh isn’t a negotiating party, Armenia must highlight Nagorno-Karabakh’s disagreement to this or that provision,” he noted.
He cited precedents of other regional conflicts which ruled out the possibility of mutual concessions. “What was the mutual concession for Kosovo, for example? The people received security guarantees. And that problem was resolved after they were granted independence. So what solution can we possibly talk about in the case of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict? What we are resolving now is a problem for which the OSCE Minsk Group was practically created, i.e. –security maintenance. And today we are arriving at the conclusion that the international community proved virtually unable to ensure a better security than it did some 20-25 years ago,” Igityan said, expressing his regret that the Armenian society has lost trust in its own government .
“The society doesn’t believe that there is any national interest for the authorities; [they see] that state affairs have been pushed to the background and are not absolutely confident that their opinion is presented at the negotiating table,” he said.
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