Nalbandyan welcomed the efforts
The statement by the presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairing countries was a constructive statement that contained positive elements," said deputy of the HHK (Republican Party) Edward Sharmazanov as he expressed his party's position and praised the presidents' efforts for a peaceful settlement of the conflict.
"The positive elements were the inclusion of the Armenian side's three most important proposals and principles in the statement," says the deputy and stated the principles one by one.
"The first principle is the issue of giving Nagorno-Karabakh a specific interim status; secondly, the importance of having a land border between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh and thirdly, the guarantee of security," said Sharmazanov, though in the statement it is stated that "the settlement must be based on the Helsinki Concluding Act and the announcement made in July 2009 in L'Aquila which include the return of territories adjunct to Nagorno-Karabakh."
Edward Sharmazanov believes that nobody can say that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has entered the final stage and is sure of the opposite, that is, it has entered a new stage.
"It is clear to everybody that the negotiations will enter the final stage only when Nagorno-Karabakh will be a full-fledged side of the negotiations," said Sharmazanov.
Touching upon the criticism according to which the Armenian side received the joint statement by Obama, Medvedev and Sarkozy with "open arms", the Republican deputy clarified that Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan didn't say he welcomed the statement. He simply welcomed the three presidents' efforts aimed at a peaceful settlement of the conflict.
"Should we complain about everything and everybody and enter a labyrinth like Azerbaijan?" says Sharmazanov.
Setting aside separate elements of the statement, Sharmazanov says they are not against the issues of refugees and other issues and as far as the formulation "occupied territories" is concerned, the deputy noted that it is not specifically stated that they are Azerbaijan's occupied territories. "If they referred to Shahumyan, a part of Martakert, Martunashen and Getashen as occupied territories, of course they are, but there are no other occupied territories," said Edward Sharmazanov.
