OSCE CHAIR VOICES OPTIMISM ABOUT NAGORNO-KARABAKH SETTLEMENT

The Associated Press
09/05/05 15:19 EDT

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) – The chairman of the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe met Monday with the leader of the disputed
Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, voicing optimism about settling the
long-simmering conflict.

OSCE chair Dimitrij Rupel said after meeting in the Armenian capital
Yerevan with Nagorno-Karabakh leader Arkady Gukasian that “there is
a solid format for debate.”

“There is a window of opportunity for the continuation of
negotiations,” Rupel said. “I don’t see any contradiction between
territorial integrity of a country and self-determination of the
nations.”

Tension between Armenia and Azerbaijan remains high more than
a decade after a 1994 cease-fire ended a six-year war that left
Nagorno-Karabakh, a mostly ethnic Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan,
in Armenian hands. Some 30,000 people were killed and a million
displaced, and the lack of resolution of the enclave’s status has
impeded economic development in the region.

An array of issues being negotiated in ongoing talks between the
neighboring countries with international mediation include the return
of refugees and the restoration of roads and other contacts.

“I positively assess contacts between the presidents of Armenia and
Azerbaijan, however, I’d like to stress once again that the problem
of Nagorno-Karabakh can’t be solved without its participation in the
talks,” Gukasian said Monday.

He shrugged off Azerbaijani offers of a wide autonomy, saying
Nagorno-Karabakh wouldn’t surrender its independence.