WE ARE AGAIN IN THE "WAR OR PEACE"
POINT OF DEPARTURE

The leader of National Union party
Artashes Geghamian marks.

We asked Artashes Geghamian to interpret some questions of parliamentary hearings on "The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Ways of settlement" theme. Mr. Gehamian answered that "for giving appraisals to these hearings we must return to the 2 of November, 1997 when Levon Ter-Petrosian's analyzing article "War or Peace, the moment of becoming serious" was published in the "Republic of Armenia" and other newspapers. We are just in the same point of departure after 7,5 years because any alternative solution wasn't suggested as in 1997 as well as during the parliamentary hearings on the settlement of the conflict. A number of technical activities were only mentioned. While the ideology of settling the conflict wasn't discussed which not only would be adaptable and understandable for our population but would also have its weighty role in those international organizations, which are able to solve this problem.
In reality we only have that the RA insists on the principle of nations' self-determination as it did 16 years ago when the Movement began. And the Azerbaijani part sees the settlement of the conflict round the principle of territorial integrity. The following years must make clear that this problem can't be solved in the field of international law. It will have political solution, which means that all our diplomacy and propaganda must persuade and prove those international organizations the accuracy of approaches of the Armenian part.
The main purpose of the hearings was to make understand something to the diplomatic corps. It was proved once again that the National Assembly had been used as an instrument and the issue as the National Union declared before the hearings had been decided by Kocharian. What problems did Mr. Kocharian and Mr. Sargsian tried to solve? First of all Mr. Kocharian can be considered as the most steady politician of the political elite of Armenia in front of diplomatic personnel and international organizations. There is an intention to show to the international community that in case of changeover of political powers what kind of moods will be predominant in NK issue. So if the international community is interested in the peaceful settlement of this conflict it mustn't take attention to the opposition political powers. The second problem is that to produce Serge Sargsian to the international community as a peaceful, steady and clever politician and make the existance of the couple Robert Kocharian-Serge Sargsian inseparable.
The third problem is that they try to produce the blockaded negotiations as a victory. And the diplomatic achievement of Azerbaijan is that it has managed to include such international organizations as the PACE, the Islamic conference and the UN General Assembly in the settlement of the conflict. But Serge Sargsian interprets this reality as if we have success in the OSCE Minsk group and Azerbaijan wants to break status quo and discuss the problem in other instances. There is a question if it is possible to consider a deadlocked issue as a success and if the international community is ready to take long this situation. Neither EU nor the USA and Russian Federation will take the long keeping of status quo. The existance of status quo has already caused extreme dangerous conclusions to the Armenian economy. That means that the Republic of Armenia can't compete with Azerbaijan economically as Ilham Aliev has said publicly for many times. "Nezavisimaia voennaia obozrenia" has mentioned one of its issues that the military budget of Azerbaijan is more for two times from the budget of Armenia. And this is before expropriation of the gas and oil pipelines. There is another dangerous problem. The construction of Baku-Astara-Karzvin railway is going to be begun which aims to connect Russia and the Eastern Europe with India and China passing through the territory of Iran and Afghanistan. And Armenia is out of these projects. And now after 7,5 years we are again in the "War or Peace: the moment of becoming serious" point of departure. In this case this is the moment of becoming serious for R. Kocharian, Serge Sargsian and Vardan Oskanian.

Anna Israelian