In an interview with Tert.am, ex-FM of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) Arman Melikyan spoke of the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.
Situation sure to change in near future: Arman Melikyan
STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 11, ARTSAKHPRESS: According to him, regular Armenian-Azerbaijani presidential meetings are supposed to show the negotiation process is alive.
“The situation will inevitably change in the near future in conformity with global geopolitical developments.
But the changes will just be the result of external consequences, not of agreements reached at the Aliyev-Sargsyan meetings,” he said.
Mr Melikyan, what kind of year was 2015 for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?
With respect to the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process last year was not a milestone. However, certain tendencies emerged during July and August, which suggest that new ideas and approaches may be proposed to the conflicting parties. And it may be the novelties will be in the co-chairs approaches and fundamental differences, and the conflicting parties will have to make their choice between, for example, the approaches of Russia and the United States.
What is the connection between the border tensions and the negotiations and what is your opinion of the Armenian-Azerbaijani presidential meeting late last year?
I am sure that regular Armenian-Azerbaijani presidential meetings are supposed to show the negotiation process is alive.
The intense border incidents prior to Sargsyan-Aliyev meetings and de-escalation following them are often presented as an additional argument for such meetings and for their good results. The Minsk Group’s efficiency must now be determined by the possibility at least one Armenian-Azerbaijani presidential meeting a year rather than by essential achievements in making the conflicting parties reach a consensus.
What is your opinion of the OSCE Minsk Group’s activities? Have they succeeded in ensuring any progress or otherwise, in the context of the continuing tensions?
We should consider the fact that the co-chairing countries are considering the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in a broader context on their political agenda. And they are supposed to coordinate their steps with the processes in an extremely contradictory area of interaction.
