OPEN WINDOW FOR KARABAKH

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
05 April 05

On March 30 the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, the foreign minister of
Slovenia Dmitry Rupel. The meeting of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office with
the president of NKR Arkady Ghukassian took place in Yerevan, at the
legation of the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh. The president presented
to Dimitrij Rupel the standpoint of Nagorno Karabakh on the settlement
of the conflict and mentioned that negotiations without Karabakh will
not result in the settlement of the problem. By the way, immediately
after the meeting with the NKR president Dimitrij Rupel informed the
journalists that till the end of summer there is an opportunity for
Nagorno Karabakh to become involved in the talks. After the meeting
Arkady Ghukassian and Dimitrij Rupel declared that it is necessary
to create an atmosphere of mutual confidence. According to the NKR
president, there is little time left till summer, and steps must be
taken to provide an atmosphere of mutual confidence without which
it will be impossible to reach an agreement on the matter. During
the meeting the situation at the front line between the armed forces
of Karabakh and Azerbaijan was discussed. The situation aggravated
after the armed forces of Azerbaijan had attempted to place their
posts closer to the frontier. Dmitry Rubel expressed anxiety about
the situation at the border. President Ghukassian proposed that
the OSCE Chairman-in-Office study the present situation to find
out who breaks the ceasefire. According to the president of NKR,
the tensions at the border are first of all caused by Azerbaijan
which attempts to solve their home political problems trying to
convince the opposition that they are ready for war, and second, it is
blackmail against the international community. Azerbaijan seeks to
persuade the international community that the problem must be solved
according to the Azerbaijani scenario otherwise Azerbaijan will start
war. “This is blackmail, this is not realistic, and I think that the
mediator countries, the international community must be well-aware
of this,” said Arkady Ghukassian. According to the NKR president,
during the meeting they touched upon the work of the fact-finding
mission. Appreciating the work of the fact-finding group, President
Ghukassian mentioned that it is very important that they witnessed
the situation in Nagorno Karabakh. It is clear for the international
community that there exists the problem of Armenian refugees and that
of the Azerbaijani refugees is not sole. The NKR president suggested
that the next meeting with Dimitrij Rupel take place in Stepanakert.

CHRISTINE MNATSAKANIAN. 05-04-2005