DID OSCE MINSK GROUP SUBMIT NEW SETTLEMENT SUGGESTION TO KOCHARIAN AND
ALIYEV IN ASTANA?

Azg/arm
15 Dec 04

Armenian and Azeri Foreign Ministers to Meet in January

The participants of OSCE Ministerial Meeting welcomed the creation of
the so-called “Prague process.” According to Mediamax agency, the
statement adopted as a result of the OSCE Foreign Ministers’ sitting
reads: “The fourmeetings between RA and Azeri foreign ministers took
place within the framework of this format. These meetings help carry
out the double investigation of all the further settlement
viewpoints.” The sitting of the OSCE Foreign Ministers was held in
Sofia last week.

“We welcome the progress fixed in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
settlement in 2004. Particularly, we welcome the three meetings
between RA and Azeri foreign ministers held by the support of the OSCE
co-chairs,” the statementsays.

“We emphasize that Minsk group co-chairs in Astana submitted the
negotiation structure that could serve as a base for the settlement to
RA and Azeri presidents based on “The Prague Process” – “We suggest
taking into consideration this ground and go forward based on it.”

One can suppose from this statement that the OSCE Minsk group
submitted a new or innovated settlement version to the sides in
conflict in Astana, rooted in the Key West treaty that was turned down
by Azerbaijan in 2001. By the way, in Astana Robert Kocharian and
Ilham Aliyev negotiated for about 5 hours, in the beginning face to
face (in the presence of the OSCE co-chairs), afterwards RF President
joined them (1,5 hour) and the meeting ended with the presidents
exchanging their views with the participation of the Minsk group
co-chairs.

Aliyev stated in the press conference that followed the Astana
negotiations that the settlement versions had been discussed, while
Kocharian noted: “Principally, the process is in progress, though we
can’t boast that we were a success. The main point is that the
settlement process is in progress and constructive. We are able to
calmly and patiently discuss issues that we have inherited and are
determined to solve.”

During one of the September conferences, in reply to a question put by
Azg Daily, whether a negotiation ground was created as a result of the
foreign ministers’ meeting, Vartan Oskanian stated: “According to the
foreign ministers, some grounds were created and passed to the
presidents. There have been some expectations that the presidents
would agree or make corrections and give special instructions to the
foreign ministers to continue in the given direction. There was such
an expectation but it didn’t happen in Astana. Certainly, it doesn’ t
mean that the presidents refused us.”

Recently, in the interview given to Reuters Vartan Oskanian stated
that “the warmer attitude of the sides towards each other” in the
latest period allows to hope that it will be possible “to fix some
progress”. By the way, the next stage of the meetings between RA and
Azeri presidents is envisaged to be held in January. Araz Azimov,
Azeri deputy foreign minister, stated that the results of Prague
meetings’ four stages had been discussed in the course ofthe last two
Oskanian-Mamediarov meetings, as well as “the issues of Armenian
illegal actions in the occupied territories were discussed.”

Azimov said that it is early to speak of “concrete decisions.”
Commenting on the possibility of liberating Azerbaijan’s occupied
territories, Azimov said that “it is a big process that can’t be done
in one day.”

It’s worth mentioning that the Azeri side stated on different
occasions that Armenia asked for some time to specify about the
further course of negotiation process after the four meetings of the
foreign ministers and the Astana meeting between Aliyev and
Kocharian. Official Yerevan responded that Armenia is prepared for the
second stage of the Prague process.

It is not known what kind of grounds were submitted to the sides in
conflict by the mediators, as it is said in the statement of the OSCE
Foreign Ministers’ sitting. It’s worth mentioning that a day before
the Astana meeting and several days after that there had been
publications in the RussianKommersantdaily, according to which, as if
the Kremlin suggested the so-called “Moscow formula” of the settlement
to Kocharian and Aliyev. According to this formula, the Armenian
forces should be withdrawn from the Azeri territories neighboring
Nagorno Karabakh and a referendum on NKR’s status should be held
inKarabakh and Azerbaijan.

By Tatoul Hakobian