ArmInfo.In an interview to the Armenian Public Television, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the first president of Armenia and the leader of the Congress-People's Party of Armenia pre- electoral bloc, said that the Karabakh conflict settlement is in the offing.
Particularly, Ter-Petrosyan stated that he holds information 90% of his opponents have no idea of. The matter concerns those blaming him for defeatist sentiments and readiness for territorial concessions. According to the first president, the major part of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs' proposals is already agreed and 2-3 points are only left. The problem will be completely resolved after consensus is reached on these points. "I have suggested no decision, there is already a plan based on the Madrid Principles, which is being negotiated. There are no disagreements concerning the principles, particularly, the points of return of the territories, non-use of force, people's right to self-determination," he noted. At the same time, the first president does not share the opinion that the Karabakh problem is not being settled. In his opinion, the process is going on, however each of the sides is trying to derive more beneficial conditions for themselves.
The politician thinks that the settlement problem, which is currently being discussed, is balanced enough and if the Armenian side announces its willingness to sign the proposed document, then the entire pressure of the international community will be directed against Baku. Also he thinks that the Azerbaijani side is ready for concessions, otherwise it would not participate in the negotiations.
According to him, it is a favorable moment for settlement, which is not being used yet. At the same time, the first president stated that the authorities, in particular, Serzh Sargsyan is currently holding the talks on the program based on the Madrid Principles, and he supports him in this matter.
"For 20 years brainwashing has been done and all those who spoke about cession of territories were considered enemies and betrayers. However, after me, Robert Kocharyan and now Serzh Sargyan have been holding negotiations on the same document. What does it mean? It means that only the authorities understands the necessity of to accept the rules of international family, in particular, the principles of inviolability of borders, territorial integrity, no changes in the borders by means of force. We can call controlled territories historical or sacred, however, for the international community those territories are considered to be occupied, they do not have these type of categories and our authorities have never used these terms, because they would be a laughingstock in the eyes of the international community," he pointed out. The first president added that the settlement is the affair of the authorities elected by the people. "It is the people of Armenia and Azerbaijan that should demand settlement of the conflict and enforce them into reconciliation," he said.