KARABAKH ISSUE DISCUSSED IN PARIS

Azat Artsakh Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
16 Sept 05

On September 12 the first closed meeting of the PACE special
provisional commission on the regulation of the Karabakh issue took
place in Paris. The representatives of Armenia and Azerbaijan, the
OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs and the representative of the European
Union discussed the present state of the regulation of the conflict.

At the beginning of the meeting the historical background of the
conflict was presented by the executive director of the London
Information Network on Conflicts Denis Samouth. According to the head
of the Armenian delegation in the PACE Tigran Torossian, the
historical outline of the prehistory of the conflict and the present
situation provided an interesting and objective picture of the
conflict. In the meeting Armenia was represented by the head of the
department on the OSCE of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia
Varoujan Nersissian, and Azerbaijan was represented by the vice
minister of foreign affairs Araz Azimov. Besides the co-chairs of the
Minsk Group, the special representative of the PACE on Karabakh Goran
Lennmarker and the special representative of the European Union in the
South Caucasus Heikki Talvitie were in the commission too. Nothing new
was said in the opinions expressed during the meeting but once again
it was emphasized that it is impossible to reach a resolution based on
only the principles of territorial integrity or self-determination of
nations. The two principles of the Helsinki agreement, that is
territorial integrity in reference to the so-called occupied
territories and the right for self-determination in reference to
status should be applied together. The Armenian side pointed out the
fact that the necessity of applying the principle of self-determination
is already considered. According to the head of the Armenian
delegation in the PACE Tigran Torossian, a clear understanding of the
fact that without the principle of self-determination of nations the
resolution of the Karabakh conflict is impossible is needed.
According to him, in regulation and decision making it is impossible
to reach good results unless the representatives of Nagorno Karabakh
Republic are involved. Once again stressing the preoccupation of the
international organizations with the peaceful and fair resolution of
the conflict clearly distinguishing between the responsibilities of
the organizations, he mentioned that the Minsk Group should deal with
the regulation, while the PACE should create atmosphere for the
regulation of the issue. `The issue completely fits into the mandate
of the Council of Europe and the obligations assumed by Armenia and
Azerbaijan in the Council of Europe, at the same time the promotion of
Eurointegration of the region has a very important role in the peace
process of the conflict,’ he said. The next meeting will take place in
December but before that the delegations of Armenia and Azerbaijan
will meet to discuss the things to do.

CHRSITINE MNATSAKANIAN.
16-09-2005