Armenian minister rules out second OSCE monitoring in Karabakh
Arminfo, Yerevan
9 Feb 05
Yerevan, 9 February: In response to Azerbaijan’s initiative to carry
out monitoring by an OSCE expert group on the territories controlled
by the Armenian side, Nagornyy Karabakh should initiate international
monitoring in the Armenian villages of Artsvashen [Baskand in Gadabay
District], Shaumyan [Gulustan in Goranboy District] and Getashen
[Caykand in Xanlar District] controlled by Azerbaijan, Armenian
Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan told journalists today.
Commenting on the Azerbaijani deputy foreign minister’s statement
that Baku will make efforts to arrange a second monitoring on the
territories controlled by the Armenian side if the expert group’s
conclusion is “pro-Armenian”, Oskanyan said: “Baku’s statements of
this kind testify to the fact that Azerbaijan realized from the outset
that accusations against the Armenian side were wide of the mark,
and this will be registered in the expert group’s conclusion.”
If Baku tries to doubt the OSCE expert group’s conclusion, this
will undermine the international image of this country, and the
international community will not take Azerbaijan’s statements seriously
in the future, Oskanyan added.
“Azerbaijan has always believed that all international documents,
conclusions and proposals of the OSCE Minsk Group should reflect
its interests. However, today facts and reality do not meet the
interests of Azerbaijan,” Oskanyan said. He said that monitoring on the
territories under [Armenian] control will not be held for the second
time. At the same time, he hoped that in their conclusion the experts
would register what they had seen on the aforesaid territories. The
Armenian side is ready to accept the conclusion by the OSCE expert
group, Oskanyan emphasized. One can speak about an impact of the
monitoring on the territories controlled by the Armenian side on the
talks for the settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict only after
the experts’ conclusion is made public, he added.