Yesterday the newly appointed Foreign Affairs Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandyan had his first meeting with the journalists. He started the meeting by shaking hands with all the journalists. Afterward he got into the main part of the meeting, which can be divided into two segments – internal and external.
As of the external part the main focus was indeed on the NKR conflict. As you know on Friday Serzh Sargsyan-Iham Aliyev meeting is to be held in Saint Petersburg Although Nalbandyan considers this meeting mostly introductory he thinks that it may give certain positive results. The positive outcome will be if the parties agree on continuing the peaceful negotiations. They will try to make further progress towards finalizing a framework peace agreement drafted by U.S., Russian and French mediators co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group. “We hope that the upcoming meeting in Saint-Petersburg between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan will allow for the continuation of negotiations and that the two presidents will issue corresponding instructions to their foreign ministers,” Nalbandyan said. “We are optimistic because there is really an opportunity to resolve the conflict.” Nalbandyan reiterated Yerevan’s overall acceptance of the basic principles of a Karabakh settlement proposed by the mediators. “We are ready to continue negotiations on the basis of those proposals,” he said. “We believe that those proposals are a good basis for finding a solution.” According to the Minister, the suggestions presented by the Co-Chairs in Madrid form a basis for talks, and Armenia is ready to continue the peace process based on those. “Azerbaijan must also be ready to continue the negotiations on the basis of these proposals,” the Minister noted. In response to the some statements of the Azeri side that there is no document on the table, the Foreign Minister said the document exists and is registered with the OSCE in Vienna. “In reality, these proposals are registered in the form of a document,” Minister Nalbandyan noted. According to him, the proposals are the result of long efforts of the Co-Chairs and the conflicting parties. Edward Nalbandyan underlined that we should refrain from any step that can hamper the talks. Currently the negotiations are in a stage when we should be cautious not to disturb these in any manner, not to pour oil on the flames, especially if some structures are not familiar with the process, they should be more cautious in their comments and statements. The Minister noted that the Azerbaijani side rarely notes it’s ready to continue the peace process. There are many more threats on different levels in Baku that the issue may be solved in a military way. “The Karabakh issue must be solved in a peaceful way: there is no alternative to negotiations, the statements about the military solution are a result of impermissible way of thinking,” Minister Nalbandyan said. “The interests of both of the countries require peaceful resolution of the conflict. It is dangerous to speak in the language of threats. It is impossible to resolve a conflict when there is an active war campaign in one of the conflicting countries,” assured Nalbandyan. The Minister also spoke about the internal issues of the country and specifically the electoral process. He confirmed once again that the recent presidential elections were a progressive step towards democracy. “This is a much more essential progress in comparison with all the elections held before. This was also confirmed in the relevant report of the OSCE observation mission and reconfirmed in the final report. By the way, the majority of the representatives of the mission were from the United States. And we attach much importance to and take into consideration any flaw they specify in those documents. In reply to A1+’s question which shortcomings and progress Edward Nalbandian noticed during the presidential election, the foreign minister said, “I am not a specialist of an electoral legislation. Statements about elections are found in international reports which are available.” The Armenian FM added that the government is making efforts to improve the state of human rights and freedoms, democracy in Armenia, and not because it is stipulated by the international organizations but because Armenia needs it. Edward Nalbandyan thinks that the international recommendations about political will to improve the situation are directed not only at the government, but also at all the political forces and the citizens in general. Everyone must display political will to improve the situation, Edward Nalbandyan stated. The Foreign Minister also deemed it necessary to note that it was after the adoption of the resolution that the President of our country issued a decision for setting up a special commission studying the post-electoral developments. Quite serious studies were made and influential steps were undertaken in the past period, and the European and international organizations realized that. “We are implementing those changes not because the friendly countries have recommended us to so or our country has certain commitments to the international organizations. This is the choice of our country and people. Those changes will continue and deepen because they are going to contribute to the progressive development of our state.” With regard to an international response, especially to the U.S. State Department’s assessment, which report cases of ballot stuffing and violence, Edward Nalbandyan said, “The OSCE/ODIHR observation mission involved delegates from different countries. The report also includes assessments of progress. The shortcomings are taken into consideration, and we are working toward improving the election process and organizing the next election better. We do not tend to think that there is no shortcoming. If there is a shortcoming, we take it into consideration. The most important is how we are going to eliminate those shortcomings,” Edward Nalbandyan says. Shortly said if you read the question, “what is the reason?” and the response you will understand that it is merely a diplomatic answer.