BAKU: KLO critical of international bodies’ stance on Karabakh

Azeri pressure group critical of international bodies’ stance on Karabakh

Trend news agency
13 Jul 05

BAKU

Trend correspondent S. Ilhamqizi: The danger of losing Karabakh
forever is becoming a reality. International organizations capitalize
on the difficult election situation and step up pressure on the public
and authorities of Azerbaijan in order to force them into making
serious concessions, the Karabakh Liberation Organization (KLO) has
said in a statement.

The special rapporteur on Nagornyy Karabakh of the OSCE Parliamentary
Assembly, Goran Lennmarker, has openly stated the possibility of
merging Nagornyy Karabakh with Armenia. The secretary-general of the
Council of Europe has said that if Azerbaijan resorts to military
force to liberate the occupied territories, the country may be
excluded from the Council of Europe, the KLO statement said.

The activities of international organizations and the Minsk Group,
which contradict Azerbaijan’s national interests, must be ended
immediately, the statement said. The pressure on the Azerbaijani
government has to be stopped. International organizations must
recognize Armenia as an aggressor, impose sanctions against it and
achieve a withdrawal of the occupying forces from Azerbaijan’s
territory.

The negotiations about holding a referendum in Karabakh must be ceased
immediately, the KLO said. No-one can unilaterally grant Karabakh any
status. When the 200,000 Azeris return to Armenia and receive status,
the same right can be given to the Armenians of Nagornyy Karabakh.

The KLO also considers it unacceptable to station any peacekeeping
forces in Nagornyy Karabakh and adjacent districts. Peacekeeping
forces must be deployed on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border to prevent
the aggressive activities of Armenia, the statement said.