If not protocols, Sargsyan would return 5 Artsakh regions to Azerbaijan - OskanianSeptember 5, 2011 - 09:39 AMT 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. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. |