IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL, GRADUAL STATUS ACHIEVEMENT
By Tatoul Hakobian

AZG Armenian Daily #164
14/09/2005

Karabakh issue

International Crises Group Made Two Reports on Karabakh Regulation

The International Crises Group will make public its first report
“Viewing the Conflict from the Ground” on Wednesday. The second report
“Voices from Negotiations’ Table” will be put out by the end of this
month. Alan Deletroz, the Vice-President of the ICG, and Sabina
Friesner, President of the Caucasus project, held meetings with
Armenian and Azeri authorities these days.

“Seven Armenian and Azeri experts have been working on these two
reports for the last 9 months. Hundreds of interviews were conducted
in Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan”, Friesner told a press
conference Monday. Deletroz refused to reveal the names of Armenian and
Artsakhi experts that took part at the preparation of the reports. The
first report, Deletroz said, deals with “current situation in Nagorno
Karabakh, in occupied territories and Azerbaijan”.

Though presenting Armenian and Azerbaijani alternatives of the
conflict settlement, the report leaves no room for the past. It’s
not only neglect to the centuries-long history but also the post-war
period as well. Deletroz said that as a starting point they take the
current status quo. The rights of half a million Armenians who lost
their property in Azerbaijan are not taken into consideration. The
same is true for 170.000 Azeris who left Armenia.

Deletroz and Friesner stated that they keep in touch with the Minsk
Group and are aware of the conflict details. They urge the conflicting
sides to follow the Prague principles. Deletroz thinks that Armenia
should stop inhabiting the territories under its control. The ICG
suggest the following: Armenian forces withdraw from the occupied
territories leaving the status of Nagorno Karabakh to be decided in
10-15 years. Deletroz emphasized that security issues should be the
cornerstone of the regulation. He also explained why the status, being
the key element of the conflict, is set aside for future. Deletroz
said that positions of the sides are far from each other and it is
not likely to bring them together in near future.

“A special status of Nagorno Karabakh” is how Deletroz sees Karabakh’s
future. Deletroz seems to be suggesting that Armenians and Azeris
live together in Karabakh and neighboring territories before the
status is achieved. As evidence of possible peaceful co-existence
of the Armenians and Azeris he indicated the relative peace at the
contact line of Armenian-Azeri and Artsakhi-Azeri borders maintained
without international peacekeepers.

The ICG thinks that the communities representing the conflicting sides
are not ready to accept either of the settlement options that Armenian
and Azeri foreign ministers discuss. ICG thinks it is important that
both peoples are informed about details of peace process. “There is
no way to success for any peace process unless all sides actively
sell this idea to their people”, Deletroz stated.

In mid-July, the ICG organized a closed-door meeting in Tbilisi,
Georgia, with the participation of 10 experts from Azerbaijan, 8 from
Armenia and 2 from Karabakh. The Azeri side not only made discussions
public but also complained of the report. Parliamentarian Gyultekin
Hajiyeva told mass media that the document does not mention “the
fact of occupation and tends to legalizing de facto administration
of Nagorno Karabakh”. “The bill mentions of dangerous proposal of
referendum. That’s why we need to review this document”, she said.

Only the publication of the ICG report will show to what extent
it reflects the real state of things. It should be noted that the
formulations of ICG officials at the press conference were not very
different from those that official Yerevan has been articulating
lately.