UNIFICATION OF KARABAKH AND ARMENIA

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
12 July 05

According to the Special Representative of the OSCE Parliamentary
Assembly on Nagorno Karabakh Goran Lenmarker unification of Karabakh
and Armenia is the best resolution of the conflict. The 14th session
of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly lasting from July 1 to 5 in
Washington is over. The balanced report of the Special Representative
of Nagorno Karabakh Goran Lenmarker, which was also on the agenda, was
not adopted as a resolution. During the session closed discussions of
the Nagorno Karabakh issue were held, during which the American
co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Stephen Mann, the personal
representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk and the
Swedish parliamentarian Goran Lenmarker expressed their opinions
too. The head of the Azerbaijani parliamentary delegation Safar
Safarov told the Voice of America that during the closed discussion
Lenmarker had stated that the recognition of the independence of
Nagorno Karabakh is unacceptable for Europe because it may result in a
long series of negative consequences. According to the Azerbaijani
diplomat, at the same time Goran Lenmarker stated that the best
guarantee for the security of the Armenians is the unification of
Karabakh and Armenia. The Swedish parliamentarian called the
representatives of Azerbaijan to give up militarist speeches and
guarantee that Azerbaijan will not threaten the Armenians. By the way,
the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Terry Davis spoke
against resuming military actions and warned that the side of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict that resumes the military actions first will
be expelled from the Council of Europe. According to the news agency
Armenpress, Davis explained his position by the commitment of Armenia
and Azerbaijan to resolve the conflict through peace talks. Mr. Davis
also mentioned that hopefully the conflict will be solved as soon as
possible. As to Lenmarkers report, it particularly suggests following
the principle of victory victory in the resolution of the conflict on
the basis of the existing proposals, with the support of the European
organizations. The balanced report which the Azerbaijanis think
favours the Armenians, was not adopted. The reason, hopefully, will be
explained by the members of our delegation who will sum up the results
of the session in the upcoming days. Before that we shall be content
with the explanations of the Azerbaijani delegates. According to the
head of the delegation Safar Safarov, they offered their proposal for
the discussion and Lenmarker offered his. At the beginning of the
session the Azerbaijani delegation presented its own project on the
Karabakh conflict as an alternative to Lenmarkers report, which was,
however, rejected. The Minsk Group co-chairs, i.e. the USA, France and
Russia, as well as Canada, Lithuania, Czech and others voted against
the proposal of Baku. The Azerbaijani representative said they were
not satisfied with certain principles of the report by Lenmarker for
the latter did not agree to a compromise. As a result none of the
proposals were adopted. Safar Abiev also stated that the Azerbaijani
delegation had also prepared a portfolio of proposals on the basis of
the report of the Special Representative on Nagorno Karabakh, which
will be soon extended to Goran Lenmarker. In the upcoming issues of
the newspaper we will give the comments of the Armenian delegation on
the developments in Washington. The 14th session of the OSCE
Parliamentary Assembly resulted in the Washington declaration adopted
by the parliamentarians of 55 countries, in which political and
economic issues and human rights are accentuated. The Assembly calls
for joining together all the economic and social potential to fight
terrorism.

CHRISTINE MNATSAKANIAN.
12-07-2005

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress