The Nagorno-Karabakh peace process has reached a point where President Serzh Sargsyan has not way back, the leader of the Armenian National Movement Levon Ter-Petrosyan stated at a rally organized by the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC).

The primary reason for this conclusion is an unprecedented statement made by the Presidents Barack Obama, Dmitry Medvedev and Nicolas Sarkozy on July 10. They actually stated their personal involvement in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process thereby enhancing their countries’ role in the process. “It is normally typical of the final stages of peace processes, which means that the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not ‘far off’,” Ter-Petrosyan said.

According to him, of essential importance are also the points of the statement:

- return of the territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan;

- an interim status for Nagorno-Karabakh with security and local government guarantees;

- a corridor between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh;

- determining a final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh by a legally binding expression of will;

- internally displaced persons’ right to return;

- international security guarantees, including a peace-making operation;

Since the statement was made by Presidents, the principles are supposedly not to be amended. The Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents will not dare argue with Obama, Medvedev and Sarkozy, which was the case with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, Ter-Petrosyan said. Official Azerbaijan accepted the settlement plan with enthusiasm, with one of its most important components being the expected return of five regions to Azerbaijan. Under the plan Kelbajar and Lachin are to be returned five or six years later.

As regards Armenia, the official propaganda, without publishing any details, is repeatedly claiming that the plan meets the Armenian side’s demands:

- international security guarantees for Nagorno-Karabakh;

- land communication between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh;

- Nagorno-Karabakh people’s right to self-determination;

The Opposition leader rejected official Yerevan’s statements as false. According to him, the settlement plan does not contain any international guarantees of security for Nagorno-Karabakh, of land communication with Armenia or the exercise of the Nagorno-Karabakh people’s right to self-determination.

“The lack of these essential components means that the Madrid Principles, which were initially designed as a settlement package, turned into a phased settlement plan. That is, the Armenian authorities eventually returned to a plan they rejected as a defeatist one ten years ago. But they have no courage to admit the fact,” Ter-Petrosyan said.