Artsakh does not expect progress from Kazan meeting

 June 9, 2011 - 18:53 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Head of the Central Information Department of the NKR President’s Office David Babayan said there are not any prerequisites for progress in the Karabakh conflict settlement.

Commenting on some experts’ statements about possible considerable progress in negotiations after the June 25 meeting among the Armenian, Azerbaijani and Russian Presidents in Kazan, Babayan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter: “There are not prerequisites for a breakthrough. First, the negotiations format is violated. And if Artsakh, one of the main parties, does not participate in them, what is the logic? How can there be a breakthrough?”

He added that a rather strange situation is established, as Artsakh, which does not participate in the negotiations, should fulfill the agreements.

According to Babayan, the parties have significant discrepancies and different approaches towards the same principles. He noted that Artsakh and Azerbaijan interpret the nation’s right to self-determination, territorial integrity and other matters in their own way. “I do not see any prerequisites for the progress, especially taking into consideration Azerbaijan’s destructive policy,” said Babayan.

He pointed to a statement of Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Araz Azimov on Baku’s official stance for the Karabakh issue, according to which Karabakh “should remain within Azerbaijan’s composition.”

“It is unrealistic. Besides, it is a display of disrespect towards the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ efforts, since this philosophy cannot lead to a positive result,” said Babayan.