RUSSIAN OFFICIAL CALLS UNRECOGNIZED REPUBLICS’ CONFERENCE ‘MEANINGLESS’

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Sept 22 2005

Representatives of separatist entities from Upper Garabagh, Abkhazia,
South Ossetia and Dnestr attended a three-day conference in Moscow
on the invitation of the Russian President’s administration last week.

Member of the Russian Duma (parliament) Konstantin Zatulin said that
unrecognized republics possess many ‘state attributes’, including
armed forces and security councils. “Democratic processes there are
developing more rapidly than those in other CIS countries”, he said.

Head of the department on relations with CIS under the Russian
President said his country considers the interests of South Ossetia
and Abkhazia as its own, ‘as over half of the population there are
Russian citizens’.

Touching upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper Garabagh,
the Russian representative said that ‘a part of Azerbaijan’s
population is in military mood, which is a bad sign’. Russian charge
d’affaires in Azerbaijan Piotr Burdikin has said that the conference
has no political importance. “It has no political weight. This is a
meaningless event”, he told journalists. Burdikin said that the event
is simply aimed at familiarizing its participants with the current
situation in the unrecognized republics. “Visiting these territories is
not so simple. For instance, one cannot enter Upper Garabagh through
Azerbaijan. But we should know the way people live there.

This conference has no bearing on either recognition of these states
or politics. The attention being paid to this fact in Azerbaijan, I
believe, is aimed at popularizing this event, which may not be worthy
of such attention.” The Russian diplomat added that the conference
should not be seen as an event affecting Azerbaijan’s interests,
as no political decisions could have been made there.