Armenian Foreign Ministry reminds Baku about occupied territories of Nagorno-Karabakh

PanARMENIAN.Net - Monday, February 15, parliamentary faction of the Heritage Party addressed a letter to NA Chairman Hovik Abrahamyan with the proposal that the Armenian-Turkish protocols presented to the Parliament of Armenia be discussed not only in the profile commission, but also in all 12 standing committees of the Parliament. “The possible ratification of the Protocols will be reflected in all spheres of Armenia (politics, economy, finance, culture, social affairs, defense, human rights and information sphere), so all standing committees of the Parliament must be given a chance to deliver reports on the effect of the Protocols on the spheres they’re engaged in,” the message read.

It should be noted that this initiative received no support from parliamentarians, with the exception of ARF Dashnaktsutyun, which declared it would take steps. However, nothing changed in a week. Moreover, on February 19 the NA Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs refused the suggestion of Heritage Party member Zaruhi Postanjyan on discussing the Armenian-Turkish Protocols in their commission.

Monday was marked by the press conference of ex-Speaker of RA National Assembly, member of the Republican Party of Armenia Tigran Torosyan. He expressed criticism over the suggestion of independent voting of the deputies from the coalition government for or against ratification of the Protocols. “When it comes to ratification of the signed Armenian-Turkish protocols in the National Assembly of Armenia, we know what will happen. Members of the coalition political forces will have to vote under pressure,” Torosyan said. He also critically assessed potential of the opposition that tries to prevent ratification of these documents by the Parliament. According to Torosyan, the struggle of the opposition against the protocols has developed into an inter-party struggle, which, by the way, has been the main cause of the opposition split.

At another press conference held on Monday, member of the parliamentary faction of RPA Gagik Minasyan and representative of the Armenian National Congress Karapet Rubinyan expressed diametrically opposite views on the Protocols. Representative of the Republican Party of Armenia Gagik Minasyan once again supported the President’s stance, assuming that the documents contain no preconditions, while member of the Armenian National Congress expressly called them a “treacherous agreement”, since they only serve the interests of Turkey. Rubinyan grounded his position by the fact “There has already been set a precedent on the consent of the Armenian authorities to establish an intergovernmental subcommittee with Turkey on historical issues to discuss the Genocide issue.”

Mr. Minasyan, however, totally objected to this opinion, saying the Armenian Genocide can’t be questioned, and it has already been supported by the decision of the Constitutional Court of Armenia. “International recognition of the Genocide is one of the main targets of Armenia,” Minasyan said.

Tuesday began with statements of Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan, who entered into a controversy with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov on the “occupied territories” and the “return of houses to Azerbaijani refugees”. “Statements, as well as those who issue them, are of no importance; what matters is the decision-making party. NKR people are the decision-making party in the Karabakh issue,” Nalbandyan said, noting that this approach is also marked in certain details of the Madrid principles. Nalbandyan accused Baku of actually setting obstacles to the settlement of the conflict, underlining that “No progress is possible without NKR’s participation in talks.” The Armenian Foreign Minister also touched upon the territories of Martakert, Martuni and Shahumyan, which are presently under the occupation of Azerbaijan and should be returned to the Republic of Artsakh as a condition for elimination of consequences of the conflict.

Tuesday, February 16, there was also held the 8th congress of the Yerkrapah Volunteer Union in Yerevan. At the congress Yerkrapah Volunteer Union administration and verification committee members were elected. Lieutenant General Manvel Grigoryan was re-elected as Yerkrapah Volunteer Union chairman. “Yerkrapah Volunteer Union will always be an advocate of peace and security in Artsakh. It pushes the Armenian nation for unity, in this way trying to prevent repetition of tragedies like October 27 and March 1,” said the statement issued by the Union members.

On February 16, Vice-Speaker of RA NA Arevik Petrosyan and representatives of NA parties met with Kazakhstani delegation, headed by OSCE Chairman, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Kanat Saudabayev. At the meeting, Petrosyan attached great importance to the Armenia-OSCE cooperation, commending the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group to peacefully settle the Karabakh conflict. Each of the parties presented their positions on this issue. Secretary of the parliamentary faction of “Prosperous Armenia” party Aram Safaryan noted that the Karabakh conflict should be resolved on the basis of three international principles, in this context giving special importance to the right of people to self-determination. In his turn, Head of the ARFD parliamentary group Vahan Hovhannisyan proposed OSCE to monitor the democratic institutions in Karabakh, which would be the best step towards conflict regulation. According to Head of the Heritage parliamentary group Stepan Safaryan, recognition of the Nagorno Karabakh independence is inevitable. Safaryan emphasized the importance to include Karabakh in negotiations, otherwise a final decision will never be made.

Wednesday, February 17, Armenian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Tigran Balayan entered into controversy with Azeri Foreign Ministry official representative Elhan Poluhov’s statement. “It would be strange if the Azeri side could present at least one international legal document that allows ethnic cleansing, justifying it by the fact they are allegedly committed “on their own territory”, Balayan said.

On the same day at a press conference Secretary of the parliamentary faction of the party “Heritage” Larisa Alaverdyan voiced criticism about the efforts of Azerbaijan to regulate the Karabakh conflict. “I wish Azerbaijan were a legal, democratic and prosperous country, as it is much easier to settle problems with such states. Currently it is too difficult to solve the problem of Artsakh with such country as Azerbaijan, as she is a totalitarian and a hungry state,” noted Alaverdyan.

On February 17 Republican Party member, MP Rafik Petrosyan brought discord into the Republican Party’s traditional claims that Armenia will ratify the Protocols after Turkey. He did not exclude the possibility that Armenian Parliament will start discussion of the Protocols before Turkey. According to Petrosyan, reasonable date of ratification of the Protocols is March 4, the day when the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs schedules a panel vote on the Armenian Genocide Resolution, H.Res.252. The deadline for ratification of the Protocols by Turkish parliament is April 24, Petrosyan believes.

On the following day, February 18 these changing tendencies in the position of the Republican Party were commented on by Head of the parliamentary faction of the party “Heritage” Stepan Safaryan. In his opinion, Armenia could ratify the Armenian-Turkish protocols first to avoid pressure from the international community in the issue of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.

Member of the Supreme Body of ARF Dashnaktsutyun Armen Rustamyan joined this debate too.“Statements of some politicians according to which the National Assembly of Armenia should be the first to ratify the Protocols show that Official Yerevan is currently on her way to situational steps,” Rustamyan said at a press conference in Yerevan. Commenting on the statement made by President Serzh Sargsyan, according to which as the leader of the parliamentary majority he ensured the protocols would be ratified in the National Assembly of Armenia only after their ratification by Turkey, Armen Rustamyan said that such statements do not favour the position of Armenia as a democratic country.

On the same day Director of the Caucasus Institute Alexander Iskandaryan stated that no thaw in the Karabakh conflict should be expected in the near future. Assessing the possibility of resumption of hostilities in the conflict zone, Iskandaryan noted that Azerbaijan won’t be allowed to wage a long war. “The war, should Azerbaijan start it, might last a week at best. After that, Azerbaijan will run out of foreign investment. Trench warfare will lead to economic collapse and flow of refugees. I don’t think the parties will take such a risk,” Iskandaryan declared at a news conference in Yerevan.

At the end of the week Armenian National Congress once again reminded about itself. At a press conference on Thursday, representative of the Armenian National Congress David Shahnazaryan drew attention of the public to the events of March 1, 2008. He said that the position of international organizations has changed on this issue. “European structures, specifically PACE, knew initially what had in reality happened on that day. But they talk about it only now because both the situation and their political motives have changed,” Shahnazaryan said.

On February 19 the Armenian-Turkish Protocols were discussed in the RA Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs. According to Committee Chairman Armen Rustamyan, the Protocols will be included in the agenda of the RA National Assembly session, irrespective of the Committee’s resolution. “However, on behalf of the Committee I'll suggest the RA National Assembly speaker to discuss the Protocols in all standing committees, before the resolution of the committee on foreign affairs is announced. We decided to set up a working group, which would include representatives of all the parliamentary factions and which, by February 22, would advance proposals for a thorough discussion of the Protocols. It’s also necessary to organize another hearing,” Mr. Rustamyan said.

According to committee member from the faction of “Prosperous Armenia” Ernest Soghomonyan, the Protocols should not be discussed in the Armenian Parliament for as long as the Turkish side has not taken steps towards their ratification. “This is a matter of national dignity. Let them begin the discussion, then we’ll decide what to do,” Soghomonyan said.

At the sitting there was also presented the draft decision on Azerbaijan’s liability for the war in Nagorno-Karabakh, which was unanimously adopted. The bill was introduced by the faction of ARF Dashnaktsutyun.

The Committee also approved the RA government's amendments to the “Law on International Treaties,” in the part Armenia may withdraw its signature, should an international agreement contradict to the national interests of the country. Shavarsh Kocharyan, RA Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, emphasized that withdrawal of the signature is a common international practice, stipulated by Vienna Convention. "We need to review the legislative field of Armenia and clarify which organizations have the right to conclude international agreements, and which do not,” Kocharian said.

On Friday, February 19, the youth wing of the Armenian National Congress organized an unregistered march along the central streets of Yerevan. At the intersection Sayat-Nova- Abovyan demonstrators refused to obey the police orders on not upsetting the traffic, and tried to break through the police cordon. After a brief clash, demonstrators sat down on the asphalt. The conflict situation was settled through negotiations, after which the protesters continued their way along the pavement. The protest action ended with the detention of 5 activists of the youth wing of the ANC. As an RA police officer explained, the ANC activists were detained for using foul language and contumely in addressing the police.