At yesterday's "Karabakh Summit" in Stepanakert, former RoA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian, who now heads the Civilitas Foundation, stressed the urgency of a new pan-Armenian campaign regarding Artsakh. Expressing his concerns regarding the situation that has arisen in the past two years and related developments, Mr. Oskanian stated that the policies of the current Armenian regime have lead to a more complicated situation for Armenians. He stated that it will be difficult to extricate ourselves from it and that it will take additional resources to let alone tackle the state of affairs that now confronts us. It is his belief that this policy culminated in the April 22 statement that drove a wedge between Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora. Another concern that troubles Mr. Oskanian is the internal political situation in Armenia; namely the absence of democracy, faulty elections, the events of March 1, 2008, etc. "All this has created a complicated internal political state of affairs in Armenia. Society is splintered and there is a problem of confidence between the public and government," Mr. Oskanian noted. Given these problematic conditions, the former foreign minister believes the time has come for national unity at least regarding issues that are of primary national import. "At issue is the fact that the aforementioned reasons, that should serve to spur unification and thinking along the lines of a proactive forward-looking campaign, are the essential hindrances for such a campaign," Mr. Oskanian said. Mr. Oskanian also stated that developments, linked to a detente in Russian-American relations, are now taking place that should concern the Armenian side. As a result, al outstanding issues are now being placed on the bargaining table. He expressed his fear that the Karabakh issue is included in that list and can be a subject of bargaining due to energy-related and other factors. Thus, he urged that a cautious approach be adopted. According to Mr. Oskanian, the new role adopted by Turkey also threatens the Karabakh issue which has resulted in the pressure being brought to bear on Armenia, in terms of Armenian-Turkish relations, has now been transferred to the Karabakh conflict. Given that the opening of the border between Turkey and Armenia is impossible without a resolution of the Karabakh conflict, Turkey is making every effort to resolve this issue as soon as possible. The clearest example of this is yesterday's joint statement by the three countries of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs. It is Mr. Oskanian's belief that Turkey intends to use this statement to do all possible in order to open the border by April 24, 2010. Mr. Oskanian also takes issue with one of the points raised in the Madrid Declaration where it states that the Karabakh conflict must be resolved according to the principles set forth by international organizations and based on decisions reached by those same organizations. The former foreign minister points out that there is not one decision adopted by those organizations that can be considered in favor of Armenia. In light of this set of circumstances, Mr. Oskanian believes that the time has come for a mobilization of resources and a clarification of Armenian demands since the demands set forth years back no longer correspond to the reality of today. "We must clarify our position so that it corresponds to current reality and takes into account Artsakh's seventeen years of independence."