Armenian president agreed to what is termed as 'occupied territories'- Levon Zurabyan

Opposition Armenian National Congress coordinator Levon Zurabyan called Wednesday a news conference to comment on the OSCE's recent summit in Astana.

Particularly, he said that the joint statement signed by the Minsk Group co-chairs and the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents reiterates the conflicting parties' commitments to resolve the Karabakh conflict based on l'Aquila and Muskoka principles.

"Serzh Sargsyan's signing the document confirms the Armenian authorities' official consent to the plan under consideration, which points to Armenian diplomacy's retreat.

During Sargsyan's tenure, the following drawbacks were recorded.

First, Armenia continued President Robert Kocharyan's policy, ignoring OSCE 's 1994 decision to involve Karabakh in the conflict settlement talks as a full party. Second, agreeing to simultaneously apply the principles of territorial integrity and peoples' right to self-determination, the country officially agreed to achieve the settlement of the conflict, without prejudice to Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. Third, the referendum clause has been removed from the agenda and been replaced by some unclear wording on will-expression.

Besides, the Armenia-Nagorno Karabakh land border and the status of Lachin corridor are not clearly defined. Further, handing the territories to Azerbaijani control and returning the refugees to Karabakh are currently at issue. What's even more, the conflict settlement principles contain no single word on lifting the blockade.

And on top of all, Serzh Sargsyan agreed to what is termed as "occupied lands" in the Astana statement, Zurabyan said.

"Astana recorded the retreats and paved way for new ones," he added.

The opposition politician attributed the retreats to a political and military disbalance in favor of Azerbaijan, and the Armenian regime's failure to stabilize the country's socio-economic situation and strengthen the military.

"The retreats will persist unless the regime finds the way to stop the disbalance. Serzh Sargsyan's resignation and legitimately held extraordinary presidential election are the only ways to change the situation," he said.