WASHINGTON (A.W.)—On June 26, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, U.S. President Barack Obama, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy issued a statement from the G8 Summit being held in Muskoka, Canada, encouraging the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to “finalize the Basic Principles for the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict.”
The “Basic Principles” they referred to are “the return of the occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabagh, interim status for Nagorno-Karabagh guaranteeing security and self-governance, a corridor linking Armenia to Nagorno-Karabagh; final status of Nagorno-Karabagh to be determined in the future by a legally binding expression of will, the right of all internally displaced persons and refugees to return, and international security guarantees, including a peacekeeping operation.”
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, commenting on the statement, said, “We commend the desire and consistent efforts of the leaders of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries—Russia, the U.S., and France—in supporting the sides to bring their positions closer and move forward with the peaceful settlement of the conflict.”
Leaders and commentators I approached were more critical.
Manoyan: Madrid Principles can’t be the basis of viable peace
Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) political director Giro Manoyan said, “The joint statement considers the ‘Madrid Principles’ as basis for the resolution of the conflict; we, the Dashnaktsutyun, do not consider these principles as a basis for a viable peace agreement because they disregard developments following 1988.”
“Had Soviet Azerbaijan responded positively to the demands of the Nagorno (Mountainous) Karabagh Autonomous Region in 1988, then these principles could have been basis for the resolution. But, Azerbaijan responded violently, attacked Artsakh [Karabagh], and lost the war it had started. Now to expect the Armenian side to compensate Azerbaijan for its losses as a result of a war it started, is unrealistic and, if implemented, would only cause more violence and instability, because the only reason Azerbaijan has not carried out a full-scale attack is because the present borders don’t allow it to. Any change in those borders would only encourage Azerbaijan to carry out attacks on the Republics of Armenia and Mountainous Karabagh,” Manoyan explained.
Kasbarian: The statement pressures Armenia into unfair concessions
“The joint statement seems to be yet another attempt to pressure Armenians into unfair concessions. In particular, the call for withdrawal from territories without any reference or guarantee to Karabagh’s sovereignty seems highly provocative,” noted ARF Eastern U.S. Central Committee chairman Antranig Kasbarian. “On top of this, the statement comes without any reference to Azerbaijani forces’ recent unprovoked attack upon the Nagorno Karabagh Republic forces, which directly violated the ceasefire that has been in effect. This further undermines the good faith required for these negotiations to move forward.”
Hamparian: Formula demands capitulation in return for unenforceable promise
In turn, ANCA executive director Aram Hamparian noted that the statement by the presidents of the OSCE co-chair countries should have highlighted a more urgent issue. “Presidents Obama, Sarkozy, and Medvedev’s statement should have been a forceful condemnation of Azerbaijan’s June 18th attack on Mardarkert,” Hamparian said. “Instead it was just more of their same, old, tired calls for capitulation by the people of Nagorno-Karabagh. Their joint statement presents, once again, the one-sided formula in which Karabagh is pressed to make up-front, highly dangerous, and irrevocable security concessions in return for a vague and unenforceable promise that its status may be determined by an undefined process, by undetermined actors, at some unidentified point in the future. The statement is made all the more offensive given their patently false and counter-productive charges regarding the occupation of territory,” Hamparian added.
Sassounian: Relinquishing territories tantamount to suicide
Publisher of the California Courier Harut Sassounian said, “Armenia and Artsakh should not accept any proposal that entails ‘a step-by-step’ solution. They should only agree to a ‘package deal’ that includes the immediate recognition by Azerbaijan and the international community of the independence of the Republic of Artsakh. Until then, neither the return of territories nor displaced Azeris should be contemplated by the Armenian side. Accepting to relinquish territories and the return of Azeri refugees before the recognition of Artsakh’s independence is tantamount to suicide.”
Dr. Khatchig Mouradian
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As if it wasn’t bad enough that ‘leaders’ of countries representing the Minsk Group continue to turn a blind eye to Azerbaijan’s bellicose threats and deliberate aggression, our inept and naive FM Nalbandian finds it fitting to encourage such behavior by commending their diplomatic verbiage ignoring truth and demanding more concessions from Armenia.
I’m assuming RA apologists will be online shortly in a desperate attempt to defend their defeatists in Yerevan…? Shame on you.
The last azeri attack where we lost 4 of our family members is the harshest lesson that no Armenian leader would dare not to learn from & above all dare to ignore it.
In our history very few rare favourable opportunities were risen in our favour & we have ignored or have not utilised them.We should NOT REPEAT THE SAME MISTAKES.
No territories should be returned where that might endanger Artsakh & Armenia & above all no return of a single azeri to either Artsakh or Armenia.
Let us learn from Nakhichevan…
Mr. Nalbandian, shame on you. Are you so naive to kiss this trio’s *****? What the hell are you doing? And where is your boss? Why this silence? If you guys don’t have the courage and the balls to respond strongly to these so called world leaders then it is time for you to leave office, otherwise you will not only face the wrath of our Nation, but also the souls of our martyrs who will torment you forever.
I completely Agree VTiger and Realist..
How many times we do we have fall under unfavorable treatement from the top powers… it is sickening to hear our own govt confirming this unspeakable direction that US, Russia and France is taking… I feel like we are giving away our Armenian piece by piece… I can’t help but to think that one day, when we wake up, we won’t have a land.. especially when we have people like our President and our Foreign Minister … do these people have balls???? brains??? minds??? intelligence????
Is there a way to pressure our govt to reject ALL agreement put forth by these freaks because as I see it, our President and Foreign Minister won’t do it voluntarily…
This is just sooo frustrating.. i can’t stand it..
Gayane
We have won the war & we have the upper hand & our leaders have to dictate the terms & these terms definitely will not be to the liking of the azeris nor the turks.This is not our worry.
Concessions that our leaders will make should be such that it will not endanger the existence of Artsakh & Armenia & the lives of our compatriots for the coming thousands of years.
Let our leaders study the peace treaty in between Egypt & Israel & how the Egyptians got back Sinai…not a single bullet has been fired from Sinai towards Israel for the last 30 years….no Egyptian army is allowed in Sinai & only the Egyptian police with limited weaponry exists & that is under the supervision of the UN.
Our leaders do not need to rush & they have all the time of the world.Corrupt Aliyev’s position is getting weaker by day & all this pressure is to be re-elected…
The BS that the RA tolerates is huge.
Maybe we should all move to the RA and run for office? If 3 million of us move there the locals would not be able to vote for the incompetants?
I believe the RA should issue all Armenians RA citizenship…like Lebanon did or still does to keep the Christian balance!
As long as we have individuals like Nalbandian running the foriegn ministry, we are bound to see political failures one after another. I wonder two issues:
a)- From where did Sargsyan find such an incompetent FM. Oskanyan was far better than him. There are lots of knowledgeable and competent people in and out of Armenia, who will have far superior performance than Nalbandian.
b)- When are the people of Karabagh demand from Sargsyan the removal of Nalbandyan for his failed conduct of Karabagh policy.
May God be between us and harm.
How could Nalbandian swallow occupied territories reference in the statement?
Armen_yan@Live.com
Shame on Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian praising the U.S., France, & Russia in giving in to the Azeri’s for returning territories surrounding Artsakh. Who the hell does he think he is trying to give our historic territories back to the Genocidal Azeri Turk. Wake up Armenia and Armenians in the Diaspora and remove Edward Nalbandian out of office. Stephen T. Dulgarian
I also am not thrilled with the statements made by all parties in the last week or so… be it the Minsk group, Azerbaijan or even our republic’s response. However, i am sure that we all realize that this rhetoric is nothing new.
What is important is that. despite the ridiculous pressure put on Armenia, we have the controlling variable…. the land ; both Karabagh and the so-called “buffer zone”. Possession and presence is a critical factor in our favor…. unless we give it away. There must be no “return” of anything until Artsakh’s independence is accepted by Azerbaijan.
The message to them is clear….. you oppressed the Armenians, you started a war and you lost the war. Besides you had stolen property from the 1920″s.
Let us pray that the U.S. takes on a stonger role to muzzle Aliyev. A war is in no one’s interest. That path was tried.
well put Stepan !