"Let Semneby forget about it"
On November 2, 2008, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed the Maindorf Declaration in Moscow, another key document on the Karabakh conflict settlement.
None of the sides can speak of tangible progress today. Moreover, the recent statements of the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus, Peter Semneby, conflict with the statements of the RA leadership.
Recently, Serzh Sargsyan announced that he is negotiating with his Azerbaijani counterpart over Karabakh's status. Today Mr. Semneby announced: "Everything is detailed in the Madrid Principles. Discussions of Nagorno-Karabakh's status are postponed for an indefinite time-period."
In reply to Semneby's statement Spokesman for the Republican Party Edward Sharmazanov said: "Karabakh's status remains the first and foremost concern for Armenia. Actually, Nagorno Karabakh is an independent country today and it cannot have a lower status."
The EU special representative also noted that normalization of Armenia-Turkey relations will create new opportunities for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Mr. Sharmazanov said in this respect: "Any development in the region can indirectly have an impact on the process. The Georgian-Ossetian war can serve as an example."
The Republican spokesman reiterated that they see no linkage between the Armenian-Turkish relations and the Karabakh conflict.
Regarding Semneby's statement that Armenian authorities realize that Karabakh's status quo cannot be perpetual, Mr. Sharmazanov said: "Armenian authorities realize and have proved through their actions that they want to achieve success in the conflict settlement. If by saying progress the EU official understands unilateral concessions to be made by the Armenian side, let him take the thought out of his mind. Neither the Armenian nor the Karabakhi authorities will make unilateral concessions."
"The key to the Karbakh conflict resolution is in Stepanakert," added Sharmazanov.
