Both Baku and Yerevan to benefit from OSCE report, pundit says
Yeni Musavat
Azeri 20 Mar 05
Excerpt from report by Kanan in Azerbaijani newspaper Yeni Musavat on
20 March headlined “The report by the fact-finding mission is part
of a general policy” and subheaded “Rasim Musabayov: “Any negative
or positive outcomes of the document will depend on activities of
the sides””
Azerbaijan is pleased with the OSCE fact-finding mission’s report.
Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov has told a press conference that
the report confirmed that thousands of Armenians are being illegally
settled in the occupied Azerbaijani territories. Azimov said that
Baku would try to put the issue on the agenda of the 60th session of
the UN General Assembly.
Interestingly enough, Armenia is also happy with the report.
[Passage omitted: reported details of Armenian Foreign Ministry
statement]
“The report is in the interests of that country which is using that
effectively,” political scientist Rasim Musabayov said. Musabayov
said the mission confirmed the fact of settlement and called for an
end to that which is in the interests of Baku.
“It has been confirmed that the Armenians are really being settled
in Azerbaijani territories. On the one hand, this will help curb the
process since from now on the Armenians will find it difficult to
continue the settlement process. Azerbaijan will benefit from that.
On the other hand, Baku may raise the issue with the UN General
Assembly which will then condemn the confirmed fact,” Musabayov said.
The political scientist also said that some points raised in the
report were in the interests of the Armenians as well.
“The point the Armenians are happy with is that the fact-finding
mission has said the settlement in the occupied territories has not
been carried out in an organized way. Moreover, the Armenians are
trying to make sure that the fact of settlement becomes the status
quo. They may make use of this in the future to annex parts of our
territories to Karabakh. At the very least, they may ask donors for
funds to resettle their compatriots in other territories,” he said.
[Passage omitted: repetition]
Asked whose interests does the report satisfy best, Musabayov said
it was part of the settlement process.
“One should not assess the document separately from the process. In
fact, this is just a small part of the overall policy. The positive
side is that the artificial settlement of the Armenians has been curbed
in some way. It is no longer possible to continue the settlement in
those territories. Azerbaijan will have evidence in its hands when
raising the issue with international organizations. In any case,
a negative or positive outcome of the document will depend on future
activities,” he said.