YEREVAN (Combined Sources)—Armenia’s foreign minister, Eduard Nalbandian, Wednesday responded to the most recent remarks by Azeri President Ilham Aliyev who announced that the current phase of Karabakh peace talks were focusing on the return of the liberated territories surrounding the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.
“I don’t know with whom the Azerbaijani side is negotiating over these issues, but I assure you that Armenia and Karabakh aren’t discussing the issues currently. For over a year the Azeri side refused to hold the negotiating process in accordance with the Madrid principles and was even claiming no such document existed. Now the talks are held over one issue only – the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh’s status,” Nalbandian told parliament.
On recent reports in the Azeri and Turkish press regarding the possibility for Turkey to become a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Nalbandian said that Ankara cannot ascend to that position if for no other reason than the fact that it would require the approval of the Armenian side in the talks. Nalbandian added that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs had repeatedly voiced the same position on the matter.
Nalbandian again rejected any linkage between Karabakh peace and the Turkish-Armenian normalization. “The Turks may make such attempts but who is going to let them link the two issues?” he said, adding that “Not Armenia, nor Karabakh or the international community.”
Turkish leaders have made clear that Turkey’s parliament is unlikely to ratify the agreements without a breakthrough in the Karabakh conflict resolution process, with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Tuesday again highlighting the imperative for a resolution to the Karabakh conflict before the ratifying of the Turkey-Armenia prtocols.
“Official Ankara attaches huge importance to preserving Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity,” the Anatolia news agency quoted him as saying. Davutoglu also opined that the Turkish-Armenian protocols could “pave the way for the liberation of Azerbaijani territories,” reported RFE/RL.
Meanwhile, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that Armenia and Turkey will hold no further major negotiations until the ratification of the protocols by their parliaments,
“No Turkish-Armenian negotiations are being held right now,” ministry spokesman Tigran Balayan told RFE/RL. “We are now waiting for the ratification. Each country has its own ratification procedures.”
“According to the timetable attached to the protocols, the next step is the ratification,” said Balayan.
They are negotiating your country’s fate with our arch nemesis Turkey you dolt.
Wake up or take an early retirement package. I’ll pay for it all up front right now.
Inch eh lezzoot hima kedar.
I think the only language the Azeri/Turks understand,is that a language of previous Armenian president Kocharyan and minister Voskanian
Does anyone believe even one word that comes out of Nalbandian’s mouth these days? Or any days?
By the way, there has been an article circulating on the Web for weeks now that I believe is factual and that I have been told is factual.
It said that Nalbandian is married to the daughter of former Russian Foreign Minister Primakov, and that Nalbandian was a long-time Soviet apparatchik.
Legitimate questions arise:
What country does Nalbandian owe his loyalty to? What does the Russia “have” on Nalbandian? These people are all, after all, former Communists. They said they believed in Communism. Now they say they didn’t and don’t. So which is it? Answer: neither. They are just liars.
They spied on and persecuted their fellow Armenians during Soviet days. They were “just following orders.” Whose orders are they following now? Russia’s?
These are the people who are leading Armenia now – these Commies, criminals, and murderers. They are bad for Armenia and Artsakh.
Nalbandyan is a puppet. I don’t think he understands the consequences of what he is doing or saying. Perhaps his mind is in Paris.
Dear Mr.Nalbandyan.excuse Aliyev for his ignorance , just because you gave our land to the turks he assumed you and your Boss will give him Karabakh,what a Dreamer.By the way ,if you do so, would serge become Azerbijianian Citizen?