Dashnaktsutyun is not so enthusiastic about statement of U.S., Russian and French Presidents

Dashnaktsutyun is not so enthusiastic about statement of U.S., Russian and French Presidents

June 28, 2010 17:07
The ARF Dashnaktsutyun does not share official Yerevan’s enthusiasm for the statement made by U.S., Russian and French Presidents on Karabakh, the ARFD Hay Dat and Political Affairs Office Director Giro Manoyan told NEWS.am.

“We do not support this statement due to several reasons. First, it does not contain a single word about Azerbaijan’s June 18 act of sabotage on the contact line. Silence incites Azerbaijan to new provocations and is considered by Baku as encouragement,” Manoyan said. Besides, the document contains the phrase ‘occupied territories’ that had not been used in previous ones. “It might be regarded as means of pressure on the Armenian side,” he said.
Manoyan stressed the statement is unacceptable to the ARFD, as it is linked with the Madrid Principles. “The ARFD will not accept the Madrid Principles, as the document provides for a new referendum on Karabakh’s status, whereas people twice expressed their will for self-determination and there is no need for a new referendum,” Manoyan said. He emphasized the Madrid Principles are intended to compensate Azerbaijan for the losses it incurred in the war it once unleashed. “In this context I cannot understand official Yerevan’s enthusiasm for the Presidents’ statement,” Manoyan concluded.
The joint statement by Armenian, U.S. and French Presidents reds, “We, the Presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group’s Co-Chair countries, France, the Russian Federation, and the United States of America, reaffirm our commitment to support the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan as they finalize the Basic Principles for the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
We welcome as a significant step the recognition by both sides that a lasting settlement must be based upon the Helsinki Principles and the elements that we proposed in connection with our statement at the L’Aquila Summit of the Eight on July 10, 2009, relating to: the return of the occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, interim status for Nagorno-Karabakh guaranteeing security and self-governance, a corridor linking Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh; final status of Nagorno-Karabakh 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.”

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