Armenian president not optimistic about Karabakh settlement
15.11.2004 10:55:00 GMT
Yerevan. (Interfax) – Armenian President Robert Kocharian is not
optimistic about prospects for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict.
“At present I am not very optimistic about that, but we keep trying,
together with Azerbaijan, to search for a mutually acceptable solution
to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem,” Kocharian told a news conference on
Monday.
He said the non-participation of the Karabakh side in the negotiating
process impeded the settlement, since Azerbaijan was only engaged in
talks with Armenia. “The situation does not reflect the essence of the
conflict,” Kocharian said.
Besides, Baku refuses to cooperate with Armenia prior to settling the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which, according to the Armenian leader,
makes it impossible to develop regional cooperation in the South
Caucasus.”
Kocharian is convinced that “an effective and speedy solution to the
Nagorno-Karabakh problem can only be achieved through creating a
favorable atmosphere by means of cooperation.”
He said he didn’t share Baku’s criticism of the OSCE Minsk group
acting as a mediator in the conflict, adding that the group’s
co-chairmen representing the United States, Russia and France provided
an optimal format and framework for handling the Nagorno-Karabakh
crisis.
Azerbaijan lost control of Nagorno-Karabakh during the bloody conflict
with Armenia in the 1990s. The UN Security Council, in its resolutions
on Nagorno-Karabakh, condemned the occupation of the Azerbaijani
territory anddemanded an Armenian troops withdrawal. The co-chairmen
of the OSCE Minsk group are attending to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem.