If not protocols, Sargsyan would return 5 Artsakh regions to Azerbaijan - Oskanian

If not protocols, Sargsyan would return 5 Artsakh regions to Azerbaijan - Oskanian

PanARMENIAN.Net - The whistleblower website WikiLeaks has released a classified cable sent by U.S. ambassador to Armenia Marie Yovanovitch on February 25, 2010 to report on a meeting with former Minister of Foreign Affairs Vartan Oskanian.

In Oskanian's view, Yovanovitch said, the increasingly bellicose rhetoric from Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is not helping matters with Turkey. “Turkey and Azerbaijan are "tightening the screws" on Armenia from both sides. While a new war over Nagorno Karabakh would be a risky proposition for Azerbaijan, Oskanian sees two elements that indicate the situation there is worsening: 1) people are losing hope in the diplomatic process to settle the issue; and 2) the military balance in the area is shifting in favor of Azerbaijan,” the cable says.

Oskanian vented that the protocols are preventing any resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. “If not for the protocols, Oskanian said, he could see President Sargsyan pushing for the return of five of the seven Nagorno Karabakh regions to Azerbaijan while keeping the remaining two for future discussions. But now it would be "political suicide," because such a move would be seen as giving credence to the conspiracy theories that claim there is a hidden provision in the protocols that link them to concessions on Nagorno Karabakh,” the cable says.

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