MINSK GROUP AND OSCE SPECIAL MISSION TO VISIT TERRITORIES UNDER NAGORNO
KARABAKHâ~@~YS CONTROL IN JANUARY

Azg/arm
24 Dec 04

On January 25 the OSCE special mission and the Minsk group co-chairs
are going to visit the South Caucasian region, particularly the
territories supervised by Nagorno Karabakh forces, to make sure whether
Armenia really carries out a policy of mastering and inhabiting the
territories administratively belonging to Azerbaijan or not. The
7th meeting of Armenian and Azeri foreign ministers is envisaged in
mid-January in Prague.

Baku claims that Armenia is inhabiting the territories under Karabakh’s
control but Yerevan declines the condemnation telling that there
are only few inhabitants on the territories who were forced out from
Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh. The Azeri foreign minister claimed
at the UN General Assembly on November 23 that 13 thousand Armenians
were moved to the region of Lachin.

At his recent press conference Armenian foreign minister, Vartan
Oskanian, noted that an observers’ mission to the security zone is
not troubling for us. Moreover, it is Azerbaijan that has to worry
because of inhabiting Shahumian and Getashen regions, minister said.

“The group of observers will arrive to collect facts and to assess
the situation. It may be surprising for Azerbaijan that most of
the inhabitants are the refugees from Shahumian, Getashen and North
Martakert”, Oskanian said.

The minister of defense also noted few days ago that he sees no
danger in observers’ mission. “Firstly, our state implements no
policy of inhabitation and secondly, the world knows that there is
a strip of security. I think this will be a good chance for us too
to find out whether, say, the region of Shahumian and other regions
are inhabited with Azeris or not. And whether Azerbaijan is engaged
in the inhabitation process or not”, Serge Sargsian said.

The UN Commission on Economic, Social and Cultural Issues expressed
concern on November 26 over the fact of confiscating the property of
the Armenians and other minorities by the Azeri settlers and advised
Baku to take measures to compensate for “illegal confiscation”
or provide alternative settlements to the Armenians and the other
ethnic minorities.

Azerbaijan carries out state policy of inhabiting occupied Armenian
villages in Shahumian, and in Northern Martakert. In 2002 the late
Azeri president Heydar Aliyev participated in an official ceremony
of inhabiting one thousand Azeri families in the Armenian villages of
Shahumian and Verin Shen regions after which the villages were renamed.

The new French co-chair to the Minsk group, Bernard Fassie, will
visit the region on January 25 after the Minsk group’s mission. The
latter’s appointment, as a chairman did no come as a surprise as the
former chairman, Henry Jacolin has retired. Fassie took part at the
meeting of Oskanian and his Azeri counterpart Elmar Mammediarov in
Sofia on December 5.

Who is Bernard Fassie? Before his assignment as Minsk group
co-chairman, he was the EUâ~@~Ys representative to Bosnia and
Herzegovina in 2002. A specialist of Russian language and international
relations, Fassie served as French ambassador to Byelorussia in
1997-2002, worked at the French embassy of Georgia in 1993-1997 and
at the Swiss embassy in 1990-1993. Fassie is a graduate of the San
Siro Military Academy.

By Tatoul Hakobian

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