Karabagh war of words adds to' points of contact' skirmishes‏

ARMENIA THREATENS TO RECOGNISE DISPUTED KARABAKH
Reuters UK
March 20 2008

YEREVAN, March 20 (Reuters) - Armenia should recognise Azerbaijan's
separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent state if
Azerbaijan does not change its approach to peace talks, Armenia's
president said on Thursday.

"If Azerbaijan continues in this same spirit, then our step should be
to recognise the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh and sign agreements
with it. In any event that is what I would do," President Robert
Kocharyan, who steps down nest month, told a news conference.

Nagorno-Karabakh's ethnic Armenian population split from Azerbaijan
in a war in the 1990s and now runs its own affairs, with support from
Armenia. It has declared its independence from Azerbaijan, but this
has not been recognised by any state.

The separatists have said they hope Kosovo's declaration of
independence from Serbia earlier this year will strengthen their own
claim for international recognition.

Armenia reacted angrily after the United Nations General Assembly
this month adopted an Azeri-drafted resolution demanding that Armenian
forces withdraw from Azerbaijan's territory.

Azerbaijan says Armenia has illegally occupied Nagorno-Karabakh,
and a number of Azeri districts surrounding the region. It says it
is committed to stalled peace talks but has refused to rule out using
force to restore its control.

Azerbaijan and Armenia are observing a fragile ceasefire but they are
still officially at war and their troops frequently fight skirmishes
along a heavily mined front line. Up to 16 troops were killed in a
clash earlier this month.

Kocharyan is to step down next month when his long-time ally Serzh
Sarksyan takes over as president. Kocharyan -- who like Sarksyan
is a native of Nagorno-Karabakh -- is expected to retain influence
over policy.

Kocharyan declared a 20-day state of emergency on March 1 after
eight people were killed in clashes in Yerevan between riot police
and opposition protesters who were demanding the annulment of a
presidential election won by Sarksyan.

"I do not see any reason whatsoever to extend the state of emergency,"
said Kocharyan on Thursday.

"I must hand over a stable country and government to the next
president. We were not able to prevent the events of March 1 but we
were able to prevent more serious consequences." (Writing by Christian
Lowe; editing by Giles Elgood).

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OSKANIAN: WE'LL KNOW BAKU'S TRUE INTENTIONS SOON
PanARMENIAN.Net
20.03.2008 16:42 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Fortunately, we will have an opportunity to know
about Azerbaijan's intentions soon. Armenia's President-Elect will meet
with the Azerbaijani President in Bucharest during the NATO Summit,
Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said.

"We've stated our readiness for a meeting. I know that the co-chairs
will make such a proposal, and I know that Azerbaijan has also agreed
to continue the dialogue at the highest levels. During their first
meeting President-elect Sargsyan and Azerbaijani President Aliyev
will certainly discuss the UN-adopted resolution. If the latter truly
wants the resolution to be the guideline, then there's nothing to
talk about and waste time."

"But if Baku is committed to the document under negotiation, then
let's get serious and go the short distance that's left. Indeed,
the UN resolution text and the content of the negotiated document
are incompatible. That is why the resolution was opposed by most of
the international community, which was also perturbed by Azerbaijan's
recent grave breaches of the ceasefire. These two facts taken together
should indeed make the international community think whether Azerbaijan
is serious about its commitments to peace.

We are. We will do what we must, up to adoption of new policies to
secure Karabakh's self-determination and security," Minister Oskanian
said in an interview with Azdak Beirut-based newspaper.

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AZERI SELF-DECEPTION CAN UNDERMINE KARABAKH PROCESS
PanARMENIAN.Net
20.03.2008 16:22 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia's Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian praised
the states which did not support the Azerbaijani resolution on
Karabakh.

"This is a non-binding, or consultative pronouncement by the General
Assembly. I don't think it will have an affect the process, unless
Azerbaijan is engaged not just in deception but self-deception,"
the Minister said.

"It was unnecessary, ill-timed, mean-spirited, both as a process
and a product. If Azeris expect to use this for anything other than
their domestic purposes, if they have convinced themselves that the
international community truly supports the one-sided desires they
had enumerated in the text of this resolution, then this will cause
serious problems in the negotiations.

One thing must be clear for Azerbaijan - that no amount of
resolutions will make Nagorno Karabakh deviate from its path of
self-determination," he emphasized.

"Show me one example in history when a conflict has been resolved by
the passage of a document by an international organization or by third
countries. This has never happened and is not going to happen now. In
1948, the UN General Assembly resolution to partition Palestine didn't
solve anything. Recently, the Security Council resolution on Kosovo
didn't manage to bring the sides together in a meaningful way either."

"I remember Lisbon where the OSCE Chairman-in-Office made a statement
about Nagorno Karabakh. Azeri joy knew no limits then. It took years
for Azerbaijan to understand that the document had no value," the
Minister noted.

By insisting on this non-binding, non-collective statement, Azerbaijan
proved that it wants to retreat from the Minsk Group process, and
therefore from the content of the document on the table. This country
is ready to negotiate what it wants, but not to compromise," Minister
Oskanian said in an interview with Azdak Beirut-based newspaper.

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AZERBAIJANI NOT AFRAID OF ARMENIA'S WITHDRAWAL FROM KARABAKH TALKS
Interfax News Agency
March 19 2008
Russia

Armenia's threat to withdraw from the Karabakh negotiations does not
concern Azerbaijan if the resolution recognizing Nagorno Karabakh as
part of Azerbaijan is adopted as the foundation of the negotiations,
an Azeri Foreign Ministry spokesman told a briefing on Wednesday.

"No one is keeping Armenia in the negotiation process. We are not
forcing them to sit down at the negotiation table. It is Azerbaijan
that is agreeing on a compromise by taking part in the talks with
them," said the spokesman.

"There is no need to threaten us with withdrawal from the
negotiations. Azerbaijan is now not in a position to be threatened,
and the political tensions in Armenia do not allow it to make such
conditions," the official said.

Commenting on Armenia's statement about a possible meeting between
the presidents of Armenian and Azerbaijan at the upcoming NATO summit,
the Foreign Ministry spokesman said that in order to organize such a
meeting "the Armenians need to demonstrate a constructive attitude to
negotiations, but we are now only seeing sabotage and a destructive
approach from them."

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AZERBAIJAN IS TRYING TO INITIATE DISSOLUTION OF OSCE MINSK GROUP - YEREVAN
Interfax News Agency
March 19 2008
Russia

Azerbaijan is working for the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk group
for a settlement in Nagorno Karabakh, the Armenian Foreign Ministry
has stated.

"Azerbaijan is trying to launch the process of the dissolution of
the Minsk group through the OSCE secretariat. They have officially
approached it, and we are aware of that," Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanian said in parliament on Wednesday.

"We should be doing our utmost for this not to happen," he added.

"Armenia has already expressed its opinion about Azerbaijan's
intentions to undermine the negotiating process and spent a great deal
of effort for the resolution proposed by Azerbaijan not to be passed
by the U.N. General Assembly," Oskanian said. He told deputies that
Azerbaijan "has no reasons to rejoice about the adoption of the U.N.

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