Garabagh Armenians to join talks ‘sooner or later’

AzerNews
6 April 05

The Armenian community of Upper Garabagh will join the negotiating
process sooner or later if peace talks continue, Foreign Minister
Elmar Mammadyarov told journalists following a meeting with the OSCE
chairman-in-office, Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel in Baku
on Saturday.

“No steps should be taken without the involvement of the Armenian
community in the negotiating process. However, all issues must be
clarified with official Yerevan first.”

Mammadyarov said that if the talks turn out successful, the Azerbaijani
community and OSCE experts should participate in the process as well.

Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers should meet frequently to
achieve results in the ‘Prague talks’, the Minister said.

“If the talks are suspended or yield no results, a new situation with
the settlement of the Upper Garabagh conflict will emerge.”

The Minister declined to specify whether military operations will be
launched but said Azerbaijan will not pursue military interference
to settle the conflict.

“Armenians of Upper Garabagh should be considered citizens of
Azerbaijan. From this standpoint, maintaining peace in Azerbaijani
territory is important.”

Armenian media reports saying that the OSCE chairman Rupel supports
participation of Upper Garabagh Armenians in peace talks were not
confirmed. Rupel told a news briefing at the Foreign Ministry that
he indeed met with representatives of the Armenian community of Upper
Garabagh in Yerevan and the leader of the Azerbaijani community Nizami
Bahmanov in Baku. The two meetings targeted studying the positions
of all sides involved. ‘This, however, does not imply my support for
the Garabagh Armenians’ involvement in the talks’, Rupel said.

“I am not authorized to change the current format of the talks,
as this is a prerogative of the conflicting sides.”

Bahmanov came out against the statements on changing the current format
of negotiations, saying that this can be done only on the level of
presidents of the countries included in the OSCE Minsk Group. He also
disapproved of the fact that the OSCE MG is co-chaired by the United
States, France and Russia, as these countries are delaying settlement
of the Upper Garabagh conflict. Bahmanov further proposed to draw all
OSCE MG members to the process. “Italy, Turkey, Finland and Sweden,
members of the MG, adhere to an unbiased position on the conflict,”
he said.

Prior to the statements made by Foreign Minister Mammadyarov and the
OSCE chairman Rupel, Russian co-chair of the OSCE MG Yuri Merzlyakov
stated that certain ‘details’ could not be resolved without the
involvement of the separatist Upper Garabagh regime in peace talks.
Merzlyakov said, however, that “the Azeri population of Upper Garabagh
is already represented by Baku”.

The key goal of the OSCE chairman’s visit to the region was to discuss
the Garabagh conflict. Rupel said in a meeting with the Armenian
President Robert Kocharian in Yerevan prior to visiting Azerbaijan
that the OSCE is ready to provide all the needed assistance to settle
the Garabagh conflict peacefully, pointing out the importance of
co-operation of the two countries’ presidents. The OSCE is seriously
concerned over the illegal settlement of Armenians in Upper Garabagh,
he added.

In his meeting with the Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian,
Rupel called on Azerbaijan and Armenia to end aggressive statements,
saying that the sides should aspire to creating the environment of
‘mutual trust’.

The conflict was also discussed at the OSCE chairman’s meeting with
President Ilham Aliyev, along with the parliamentary election due in
the country in November.

President Aliyev said Azerbaijan attaches great importance to its
co-operation with the OSCE.

“The Upper Garabagh conflict is the most serious obstacle for regional
development, stability and security,” said Aliyev, reiterating that
Baku supports a settlement exclusively within international legal
norms.

The President added that the OSCE MG has considerably stepped up its
activity at settling the conflict of late.

Among other issues discussed during the OSCE chairman’s visit to Baku
was the upcoming parliamentary election and the democratic processes
ongoing in Azerbaijan.

Rupel said following his meeting with Foreign Minister Mammadyarov
that he made some proposals with regard to the elections. He declined
to elaborate but said the parties agreed to interact in this respect.

“There are very strong authorities and weak opposition in Azerbaijan,”
said Rupel. The OSCE will equally approach both the authorities and
opposition and work to achieve a conduct of fair and free elections,
he said.

The OSCE chairman also met with leaders of eight opposition parties
to discuss the current socio-political situation in the country and
the parliamentary elections.

The OSCE Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR)
Director Christian Strohal, who visited Baku a while ago, presented
some proposals on the conduct of the elections to Azeri officials.
Afterwards, the issue of introducing changes and additions to the
Election Code was discussed by representatives of OSCE ODIHR, the
Council of Europe Venice Commission and the Azerbaijani government in
Strasbourg. Although the results of discussions have not been made
public yet, it is common knowledge that the OSCE proposed to change
the make-up of electoral commissions and allow representatives of
NGOs to observe the voting, regardless of their source of funding.