AZERI POLITICIANS BLAST OSCE MEDIATORS’ STANCE ON KARABAKH
Turan news agency
16 Jul 04
Baku, 16 July: The opinion of the Minsk Group that the Karabakh
conflict cannot be resolved without compromises and concessions by
Azerbaijan has elicited a negative reaction in Azerbaijan. The
co-chairmen expressed this general view at yesterday’s reception in
the residence of the American ambassador. Turan news agency conducted
a small opinion poll among some of those who attended the reception.
The activity of the OSCE Minsk Group cannot be regarded as
satisfactory and the stance of the co-chairmen “merits criticism”, Isa
Qambar, the leader of the Musavat Party, said. He thanked the US
embassy for organizing the meeting with the co-chairmen.
Commenting on (political analyst Vafa) Quluzada’s demarche, Qambar
said that he completely supports his view that Azerbaijan cannot make
concessions to the Armenians.
The leader of the Azarbaycan Milli Istiqlal Party, Etibar Mammadov,
reckons that the co-chairmen are repeating the old mistakes. They are
not interested in a “fair” solution to the conflict and demand
concessions only from Azerbaijan, he said.
He also supported Quluzada’s speech which reflected the actual state
of affairs. “The co-chairmen have to realize that neither the
Azerbaijani authorities, nor the opposition will concede,” Mammadov
said.
Ex-foreign minister Tofiq Zulfuqarov said that the co-chairmen have to
criticize the non-constructive stances of this or that side. He
regretted that they are not doing so. Touching on Quluzada’s remarks,
he said that they were “emotional”. Nevertheless, he agrees with
“certain aspects” of Quluzada’s speech.
Political expert Eldar Namazov gave a negative assessment to the
co-chairmen’s statements. He believes that they do not understand the
realities and there is nothing new in their position. Moreover, the
OSCE Minsk Group is totally uninformed about the Azerbaijani public’s
opinion.
Quluzada’s remarks caught them by surprise, Namazov said. “Vafa
Quluzada gave a very good and harsh answer.”