Azeri opposition urges government to refuse OSCE’s Karabakh mediation

Interfax news agency, Moscow
20 Jul 04

BAKU

The Democratic Azerbaijan opposition bloc has called on the country’s
authorities to refuse the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group in
settling the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, Samir Asadli, a
representative of the Civic Solidarity Party, which is part of the
bloc, told Interfax.

“We think the position of the OSCE Minsk Group is pro-Armenian. At the
same time, it is widely known that it was Armenia that occupied 20 per
cent of Azerbaijan’s territories,” says a statement from Democratic
Azerbaijan.

“The OSCE Minsk Group is supposed to take action, not make
statements. The co-chairmen are not doing anything to settle the
Karabakh conflict. It should be noted that one of the Minsk Group’s
co-chairmen is a representative of France, a country that recognized
the so-called Armenian genocide,” the statement says.

“This is why the Azerbaijani authorities should refuse the OSCE’s
services and attempt to resolve the problem on their own,” the
statement says.

Baku lost control of Nagornyy Karabakh and seven adjoining districts
in a conflict with Armenia in the 1990s. The UN Security Council has
denounced the occupation of Azerbaijani lands and has demanded that
Armenia withdraw its forces. The US, Russian and French co-chairmen of
the OSCE’s Minsk Group are working to settle the conflict.