Although the Kocharyan-Aliev meeting in Rambuye wasn’t a great success, many are still interested in the outcome of the Karabagh conflict. Armenia’s Special representative of the EU in Southern Caucasus and ambassador Heyki Talvitie touched upon the Karabagh conflict during his farewell meeting held yesterday. Before ending his term on March 1, Talvitie held a joint press conference with Foreign Minister of Armenia Vartan Oskanyan. Swedish diplomat Peter Semnebi will be his successor.
Presidents of Serbia and Albania were to meet yesterday to discuss the current status of Kosovo. Journalists asked Talvitie whether or not the solution of the Kosovo conflict would be the same for Karabagh.
“Today, there are many conflicts in the world and it’s all due to the fact that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, many countries starting rechecking their borders. Georgia, Moldova and Azerbaijan are following up on the current events of Kosovo and are waiting to see how it will all end. But I don’t think that there is one model by which all conflicts can be solved. Each conflict is solved in its own, unique way. However, on the other hand, we must not overlook the negotiations being led for the current conflict. All conflicting countries are trying to see how one conflict is solved so they can apply that method to solve their own,” said Talvitie.
According to him, nowadays the whole world is attentively following up on the Kosovo conflict to see how it will all end up.
“Resolve the Karabagh conflict as soon as possible and you will not need to follow the example of Kosovo.” This was his advice.
Journalists asked Talvitie for his personal opinion on the Karabagh conflict- is it supposed to be resolved according to the principle of national self-determination or territorial integrity.
“There are many international principles which are important for all countries. If you are trying to resolve a conflict, then you must take those principles into consideration. You must know that this or that principle will help you overcome the obstacles,” he said and added that he can not express his personal opinion as long as he is still the Southern Caucasus representative for the EU. However, he did say that if Armenia and Azerbaijan are dealing with the Karabagh conflict, it is important for them to give the people of Karabagh a chance to speak out, but that is currently a problem.
Talvitie has been a former OSCE chairman during the years of 1995-1996. When comparing the negotiations led by the former and present day Armenian authorities, he states that Armenia is well-oriented from that perspective.
“You can’t take one step and then stop. You must take the first step and move forward. From this perspective, Armenia is well-oriented,” said Heyki Talvitie.
According to Foreign Minister of Armenia Vartan Oskanyan, he can’t compare the conflict resolutions given to the former and present day authorities and say that both sides have come to the point where they were back in 1998.
“It depends on the resolution. A resolution can be simple and it can be complex. There was a time when they took a shorter route, but the people didn’t go for it. The resolution back then differs from that of today,” said Vartan Oskanyan.
According to Oskanyan, the sides had agreed with some of the principles listed in the one page document. As for the rest, he was waiting to see if the presidents would agree on those during the meeting in Rambuye which, as we saw, didn’t happen. Oskanyan hopes that those principles will be agreed on during the future negotiations.
“The resolution set out on the table is a rather complicated one because it requires each side to make serious compromises,” says the foreign minister.
Oskanyan commented on the announcement made by official representative of the Foreign Minister of Russia who claimed that Russia can guarantee the Karabagh conflict settlement. He said that there should be no separate country which can guarantee the peace settlement. According to Oskanyan, the announcement made by the foreign minister of Russia does not mean that Russia is starting to get hyped up because, after all, Russia is a member country of the OSCE Minsk Group and the three member countries were working actively with the Minsk Group before the announcement was made.
Oskanyan and Talvitie also discussed Turkish-Armenian ties and the opening of the Turkish border yesterday during the press conference. According to Talvitie, the negotiations between the EU and Turkey can not solve the issue concerning Turkish-Armenian relations.
“It’s not right for Armenia to expect to see a solution based on those negotiations. However, the negotiations may make things easier,” he said.
As for our other ally, Georgia, Talvitie says that Georgia is planning on joining NATO in 2008. What does the foreign minister of Armenia have to say about that and is it possible for Armenia to make its way into NATO?
“Each country within the Southern Caucasus region has the right to decide how to secure the nation. If Georgia believes that NATO can best secure the country, then that is their decision. Armenia is interested in Georgia’s stability,” said Mr. Oskanyan.
As for Armenia, Oskanyan is happy to see that Armenia has a chance to join NATO within the framework of the individual projects.
“Armenia plans on strengthening ties with NATO and taking advantage of all the opportunities. As of now, all three republics of the Southern Caucasus have the same ties with NATO,” says Vartan Oskanyan.
But Armenia is currently reviewing its “energy policy” and “diversifying the energetic resources”.
“The latest events proved that Armenia should pay more attention to its energy resources and we realized that some things have changed in that field. Whereas we faced no problem of constructing a gas pipeline connecting Iran with Armenia, now we face that problem. Now we are happy that we made the right decision at the right time and we are starting the pipeline construction,’ said Vartan Oskanyan as he commented on the economic policy and the achievements.