Political Setbacks in Karabagh Issue‏

ARMENIA REBUKES EU PARLIAMENT OVER PULLOUT DEMAND
All Headline News
May 24 2010

Yerevan, Armenia (AHN) - Armenia has criticized the European Parliament
for demanding the withdrawal of Armenian forces from all occupied
territories of Azerbaijan.

Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian said the demand contradicts an
EU-endorsed plan to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Nalbadian said the resolution, drafted by Bulgarian Socialist lawmaker
Evgeni Kirilov, and adopted by the EU parliament last Thursday,
does not specify whether Armenia should pull out of only Azerbaijani
districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh or the disputed Karabakh region
as well.

It also doesn't say, Nalbandian added, whether the Armenian troop
pullout should start immediately and unconditionally or after the
signing of a comprehensive Armenian-Azerbaijani agreement.

The Armenian-Azerbaijani agreement is a key element in the so-called
Madrid Principles of resolving the conflict proposed by the U.S.,
Russian and French mediators co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group.

The OSCE Minsk Group was created in 1992 to encourage a peaceful,
negotiated resolution to the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia
over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Parliamentary representatives of the three political parties in
Armenia's coalition government share Nalbandian's observation.

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT'S RESOLUTION ON SOUTH CAUCASUS

IS CONTROVERSIAL DOCUMENT
PanARMENIAN.Net
May 24, 2010

Secretary of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun Hrayr Karapetyan said that
the European Parliament's Resolution on the South Caucasus is a
controversial document.

Many wordings of the resolution are unclear, Mr. Karapetyan told a
press conference in Yerevan.

Besides, he noted that though the resolution is not obligatory for
implementation, but Armenia should make relevant conclusions from
similar resolutions and decisions.

Mr. Karapetyan went on saying: "This document presents interests of
only one side. It refers to the so-called "occupied territories of
Azerbaijan." What about Armenia's occupied territories?"

He blamed the Armenian authorities for the fact that the report does
not mention Armenia's territories occupied by Azerbaijan.

ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES ARE UNAWARE OF ANTI-ARMENIAN

PROCESSES IN THE REGION: HERITAGE
Tert.am
25.05.10

Heritage Party has released a statement condemning the recent
resolution (2216) by the European Parliament over the current situation
in the South Caucasus.

The statement says that the formulations about the Karabakh-Azerbaijani
conflict found in the resolution are not in line with reality, and
most importantly, are apparently pro-Azerbaijani.

"The evaluations by Armenia's Foreign Minister and the speeches by
coalition MPs about the Resolution 2216 by the European Parliament
testify to the fact that the ruling authorities are totally unaware
of the anti-Armenian processes taking place in the region and are
completely devoid of the ability to have any influence on them,"
reads the statement.

Further it says that the indifference of the Armenian authorities
towards the unacceptable actions of the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem
are gradually becoming a serious threat for the Armenian nation and
may cause irreversible losses to the territorial integrity, security
and pan-national interests of the two Armenian states.

KARABAKH'S IGNORED VOTE
EurasiaNet
May 24 2010
NY

The breakaway region of Nagorno Karabakh has voted, but, so far as most
of the outside world is concerned, it voted in vain. The mediating
trio of France, Russia and US reiterated that the territory's May
23 parliamentary election will not be regarded as legitimate. But
if anyone nevertheless wants to know how things are shaping up,
de facto Prime Minister Ara Harutyunian's Free Homeland party leads
with 46 percent of the vote and is trailed by de facto Parliamentary
Speaker Ashot Ghulian's Democratic Party of Artsakh with 29 percent
of voters. Next comes Dashnaktsutiun with 20 percent, while the
Communist Party has failed to clear the four-percent threshold,
according to preliminary results.

Only Armenia, which protected Nagorno-Karabakh through thick and thin,
has hailed the election, calling it a "demonstration of a resolve to
live independently."

ARMENIA URGES WORLD TO WORK WITH KARABAKH'S ELECTED

AUTHORITIES
RIA Novosti
Russia
May 24, 2010 Monday 6:16 PM GMT+3

The international community should cooperate with the newly elected
authorities of the breakaway Azerbaijani region of Nagorny Karabakh,
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said on Monday.

The predominantly ethnic Armenian region, which has been a source
of conflict between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and
Azerbaijan since the late 1980s, held elections for its 33-seat
parliament on Sunday.

Nalbandian said the vote received positive ratings from international
observers showing that the government and the people are willing to
strengthen democracy and the rule of law in the region.

"These polls show the willingness of Nagorny Karabakh's citizens to
live freely and independently," Nalbandian said.

The minister said that during the elections stable democratic
institutions and a legitimate leadership were formed, as well as
government and local government bodies.

The Azerbaijani Central Election Committee said the polls in the
"occupied Nagorny Karabakh region" were "illegal" and may have
threatened peaceful settlement of the issue.

The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorny Karabakh
first erupted in 1988, when the region claimed independence from
Azerbaijan to join Armenia.

Over 30,000 people are estimated to have died on both sides between
1988 and 1994, when a ceasefire was agreed. Nagorny Karabakh has
remained in Armenian control and tensions between Azerbaijan and
Armenia have persisted.

The conflict has been mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group that comprises
the United States, Russia and France.