Armenian NGO head warns of latent developments in Karabakh settlement
20.02.2019,
16:10
Larisa Alaverdyan, the head of a public organization called “Against Legal Arbitrariness,” warned today that latent developments taking place in the Karabakh conflict settlement process are more serious than those, which are visible.
YEREVAN, February 20. /ARKA/. Larisa Alaverdyan, the head of a public organization called “Against Legal Arbitrariness,” warned today that latent developments taking place in the Karabakh conflict settlement process are more serious than those, which are visible.
She said the ideas voiced by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, his press secretary and members of the Armenian National Congress (ANC) party are very contradictory. She argued that the renewed activity of the ANC indicates one thing only: a conflict settlement option once advocated by Armenia’s first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan has been revived.
In one of his interviews, Ter-Petrosyan proposed that Karabakh remain part of Azerbaijan, but be granted broad autonomy. Alaverdyan said she is worried that supporters of Ter-Petrosyan are joining Nikol Pashinyan’s team.
"If the statement about mutual concessions, made by an ANC senior member Levon Zurabyan was expected, similar statements made by the press secretary of the prime minister are of concern," she said. According to Alaverdyan, the fact that no new approaches to the Karabakh issue were voiced so far is a matter of concern.
"After a series of positive statements by the Prime Minister, I expected that the following statement would be that he was not responsible for the steps taken by the previous authorities, including the Madrid Principles and the obligations stemming from them. This did not happen,’ she said
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted into armed clashes after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s as the predominantly Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan sought to secede from Azerbaijan and declared its independence backed by a successful referendum.
On May 12, 1994, the Bishkek cease-fire agreement put an end to the military operations. A truce was brokered by Russia in 1994, although no permanent peace agreement has been signed.
Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh and several adjacent regions have been under the control of Armenian forces of Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh is the longest-running post-Soviet era conflict and has continued to simmer despite the relative peace of the past two decades, with snipers causing tens of deaths a year.
On April 2, 2016, Azerbaijan launched military assaults along the entire perimeter of its contact line with Nagorno-Karabakh. Four days later a cease-fire was reached. -0---
She said the ideas voiced by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, his press secretary and members of the Armenian National Congress (ANC) party are very contradictory. She argued that the renewed activity of the ANC indicates one thing only: a conflict settlement option once advocated by Armenia’s first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan has been revived.
In one of his interviews, Ter-Petrosyan proposed that Karabakh remain part of Azerbaijan, but be granted broad autonomy. Alaverdyan said she is worried that supporters of Ter-Petrosyan are joining Nikol Pashinyan’s team.
"If the statement about mutual concessions, made by an ANC senior member Levon Zurabyan was expected, similar statements made by the press secretary of the prime minister are of concern," she said. According to Alaverdyan, the fact that no new approaches to the Karabakh issue were voiced so far is a matter of concern.
"After a series of positive statements by the Prime Minister, I expected that the following statement would be that he was not responsible for the steps taken by the previous authorities, including the Madrid Principles and the obligations stemming from them. This did not happen,’ she said
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted into armed clashes after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s as the predominantly Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan sought to secede from Azerbaijan and declared its independence backed by a successful referendum.
On May 12, 1994, the Bishkek cease-fire agreement put an end to the military operations. A truce was brokered by Russia in 1994, although no permanent peace agreement has been signed.
Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh and several adjacent regions have been under the control of Armenian forces of Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh is the longest-running post-Soviet era conflict and has continued to simmer despite the relative peace of the past two decades, with snipers causing tens of deaths a year.
On April 2, 2016, Azerbaijan launched military assaults along the entire perimeter of its contact line with Nagorno-Karabakh. Four days later a cease-fire was reached. -0---
