SARKISIAN SAYS KARABAKH STATUS CENTRAL TO PEACE ACCORD

Armenia believes the status of Nagorno-Karabakh is a key issue in the continuing search for a settlement in the long-running Armenian-Azerbaijani dispute and regards the Armenian-controlled territories surrounding the enclave as a guarantee of its population’s security, the country’s leader said in an interview with a leading European newspaper.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung quoted President Serzh Sarkisian in its Monday issue as saying that Azerbaijan’s recognition of the self-determination of Nagorno-Karabakh’s population can be followed by solutions to other issues.

“The control over territories is not an end in itself for us, but is aimed at Karabakh’s security. Today we need to negotiate over principles of settlement, which can be followed by the basic peace accord. We still have a long way to go,” Sarkisian said, according to the text of his interview disseminated by the presidential press office Tuesday.

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Sarkisian commented that the Moscow declaration was important for the Armenian side due to its exclusion of a military way of resolving the dispute.

“Of course, it is just a declaration, and we would be very glad to reach an agreement. Anyway, I do not mean to underestimate the importance of that document,” Sarkisian told the German paper. “I am also glad that Azerbaijan signed a document that assumes all principles of international law as a basis for a solution to the conflict and not only the principle of territorial integrity.”

http://www.armenialiberty.org/armeniareport/report/en/2008/11/3A4029BC-C7DB-4EB7-82A5-FAF6A0C0CF0D.ASP

S. SARGSIAN SAYS KARABAKH CONFLICT REGULATION POSSIBLE IF AZERBAIJAN RECOGNIZES THE RIGHT OF KARABAKH PEOPLE TO SELF DETERMINATION

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 11, ARMENPRESS: “For a long time we are saying that Karabakh conflict regulation is possible if Azerbaijan recognizes the right of Nagorno Karabakh people to self determination, if there is a land border between Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh and if there are international guarantees ensuring the security of Nagorno Karabakh”, Armenian President Serzh Sargsian said in an interview to French Le Monde daily, speaking on prospects of Karabakh conflict regulation.

Nagorny Karabakh: Bridging divides: civil society peacebuilding initiatives

Avaz Hasanov and Armine Ishkanian (2005)

A number of factors have limited the effectiveness and impact of NGOs in Armenia and Azerbaijan: capacity, the political environment and the nature of the societies of which civil society itself forms part. Increased poverty in these countries has meant that few organizations are membership based and supported, making NGOs dependent on foreign donors for the overwhelming majority of their funds. […] The fact that most of the NGOs engaged in this work are also quite small, with a limited scope of operations, compounds these problems: NGOs reach a small segment of the population while the larger public remains unaware of their work and cynical towards the very notion of civil society. There is consequently a limited level of participation in the peace process and a very low sense of ownership of it.

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Looking to the future, the key priority for civil society is to act as a conduit for wider, more informed participation in the peace process. Broad-based public awareness of and participation in the peace process is essential for the region to develop democratically and a mutually acceptable, sustainable solution to the conflict to be found. […]

http://www.c-r.org/our-work/accord/nagorny-karabakh/bridging-divides.php