"False statement" or "denial of fact"? Indirect dialogue Yerevan-Baku
Indirect discussion Grigoryan-Hajiyev
“An agreement on the creation of international mechanisms for the protection and security of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh was reached in Washington; the US was present at the talks and a protocol was drawn up,” Secretary of the Armenian Security Council Armen Grigoryan said on December 9 in parliament.
This was in response to the adviser to the President of Azerbaijan, Hikmet Hajiyev, who called Grigoryan’s previous statement about the Washington agreements “false”.
On December 8 during a briefing the Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia told journalists that an agreement had been reached in Washington on the creation of international mechanisms for the protection and security of NK Armenians.
“But there is still no clarity about this mechanism. There is also no clarity on the issue of whether we will create it within the framework of the peace agreement or outside the peace agreement,” he stated.
In response, Hikmet Hajiyev said that “Armenia is distorting the essence of the Washington discussions” and is making a “false statement.” He again expresed Baku’s approach: the Azerbaijani authorities are not going to discuss the issue of the rights of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh with anyone, as this is “an internal affair of Azerbaijan.”
According to the Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia, Azerbaijan is trying to create the impression that the Karabakh problem does not exist, and this does not contribute to progress in the negotiations on a peace agreement.
“The Karabakh issue has become an elephant in the room for Azerbaijan”
These are the words of the Secretary of the Security Council, who presented the situation to the deputies in the Armenian parliament. He believes that Azerbaijan is trying “to pretend that it does not exist.”
He said that Armenia “agreed” to a separate discussion of the issues of the rights of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh and the peace treaty, since during the meeting in Washington “there was confidence in the creation of an international mechanism.”
“However, due to the lack of clarity on the issue of creating an international mechanism, it’s hard for Armenia to go forward on the peace agreement,” Grigoryan said.
“Facts cannot be denied”
This is how Armen Grigoryan reacted to the denial of the adviser to the President of Azerbaijan.
“There are things that cannot be denied, as there is a lot of factual data. At the talks in Washington, not only Armenia, but also America was in the room. And there is a protocol of these negotiations which Azerbaijan knows about. I am surprised that Hajiyev denied the fact. Naturally, we will continue to work to understand what is the mechanism within which conditions will be created so that a discussion of the rights and security of NK Armenians takes place between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan.”
He believes that it is possible to achieve this, as international partners also show interest in continuing work in this direction.
Indirect discussion Grigoryan-Hajiyev
“Three of the five points presented relate to Nagorno-Karabakh”
During a briefing on December 8, the Secretary of the Security Council said that work on a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan continues. But according to the text presented by Azerbaijan, it is difficult to say whether Karabakh is there or not:
“I can assume that three of the five points presented relate to Nagorno-Karabakh, without naming Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia’s approach is that if there is any hint, it should be clearly stated. We are working in this direction: either Nagorno-Karabakh should be clearly specified in the agreement, or an international mechanism should be created.”
According to Grigoryan, “Yerevan stands for the creation of security guarantees” whether it be under a peace treaty or another international mechanism.
He said that the last text transmitted from Baku is a more detailed version of the previously submitted 5 points.
The Secretary of the Security Council said that Armenia did not receive the texts of the peace agreement either from Brussels, Washington, or any other capital. According to him, there are two versions of the text of the agreement: Russian and Azerbaijani. Now they are working on the Azerbaijani agreement.
As for Moscow’s proposals, Grigoryan stated that Armenia proposed including them in the document following the results of the Sochi meeting, but this did not happen. As to why — “it is better to ask Russia.”
“There is agreement on only one point of the peace treaty”
“This item is the establishment of diplomatic relations within the framework of the Vienna Convention. There is no clear agreement on all other points,” Armen Grigoryan said.
Yerevan has not yet responded to the latest proposals for a peace treaty from Baku. According to the Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia, they are not announced, given the “peculiarities of the negotiations.” He says that all the problems that exist between Armenia and Azerbaijan are known to Armenian society:
“This is the problem of Nagorno-Karabakh, an undemarcated and indelimited border, the unblocking of roads, humanitarian issues. Discussions are going on about these.”
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Indirect discussion Grigoryan-Hajiyev
