TIME RUNNING OUT FOR PEACE, US MEDIATOR SAYS

AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
March 30 2006

The American mediator of the OSCE Minsk Group (MG) brokering settlement
to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh has
warned that time is currently of essence to achieve peace this year.

“Time is not on anyone’s side. 2006 is suitable for a peace accord.

We have to complete the important work we started this year to
achieve progress,” the US co-chair of the MG, Steven Mann, told Radio
Liberty. He reminded that the co-chairs met in Istanbul on March 20
for another meeting to discuss plans for further Garabagh talks. He
said that during the discussions, the other two diplomats – from
Russia and France – were informed about the outcome of the recent
meetings he held in Baku and Yerevan.

Russian co-chair Yuri Merzlyakov did not attend the Istanbul meeting,
Radio Liberty quoted diplomatic sources as saying. He was reportedly
substituted by another diplomat at the discussions, whose name is not
disclosed. The Russian Foreign Ministry explained this by Merzlyakov’s
illness. Mann dismissed some statements saying the Minsk Group’s
format for mediating peace talks has been fruitless. The OSCE is the
most appropriate format for the conflict resolution and reaching
the desired results this year depends on the sides themselves,
he said. “Regardless of the format, you will always face the fact
that both parties have to find a common ground to solve the dispute,”
said Mann. The head of the President’s Office international relations
department, Novruz Mammadov, said holding consultations by the MG
co-chairs could be seen as a positive development in general.

“However, this is insufficient for us. We want the negotiating
process to produce specific results,” he said. Mammadov dismissed the
statements saying the talks are deadlocked as no information on their
gist has been made public. “The negotiating process has never been
divulged in a comprehensive manner and there is no need for this. If
any agreement or a step forward is achieved, only in this case any
information could be made available.”

‘Two options’ Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian said there are
currently two alternatives to continue peace talks. “One of them is the
next visit of the [mediating] OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to the region,
while the other one – holding the next meeting of the two foreign
ministers.” Oskanian said it is unclear what steps will be taken for
the peaceful settlement of the dispute after the Istanbul meeting of
the OSCE mediators. “Armenia has made all the needed compromises to
resolve the conflict in peace and is now waiting for the Azerbaijani
side to follow suit.” The Armenian official added that the hopes
for finding a solution in 2006 that were cited earlier have somewhat
dwindled. The discussions held by Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Robert
Kocharian in the French town of Rambouillet in February turned out
fruitless, which was followed by Azerbaijan’s threats to use force to
free its land from under occupation. Armenian Prime Minister Andranik
Markarian maintained that recognition of the self-proclaimed Upper
Garabagh republic by Armenia in the future is possible, but this will
depend on the outcome of the negotiations. “This can be one of the
decisions to be made,” he said while commenting on the reports. The
Armenian official added that it would be inappropriate to elaborate
on the future steps at this point, as the talks are under way.

Markarian said resumption of military actions in Garabagh would
not favor either Azerbaijan or Armenia, “or the ‘self-proclaimed’
entity”. “Armenia is interested in continuing the negotiating process,”
he said.