Rambouillet Replaced By Bucharest With Same Unsettled Issue,Same Exp

RAMBOUILLET REPLACED BY BUCHAREST WITH SAME UNSETTLED ISSUE, SAME EXPECTATIONS AND NO CHANGES
By Aghavni Harutyunian

AZG Armenian Daily
07/06/2006

RA president Robert Kocharian met with Ilham Aliyev, president
of Azerbaijan on June 4- 5 within the framework of Dialogue and
Cooperation Black Sea Summit. The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs,
Karel de Gucht, OSCE chairman in office, Andrzej Kasprzyk, personal
representative of the OSCE chairman in office, as well as the foreign
ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan were preset at the June 5 meeting.

Steven Mann, US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, stated that the June
4 Kocharian-Aliyev meeting was held “in friendly atmosphere.” Yuri
Merzliakov, Russian co-chair, said that as compared with the
negotiations in Rambouillet, the meeting in Romania was quite a
different one, “and the atmosphere was always good.” After the meeting,
Mr. Kocharian refused to make any comments on the negotiations,
as there had been no agreement on talking to the journalists.

Aliyev didn’t say anything at all. While Vartan Oskanian, RA foreign
minister, said that the sides failed to agree only about the issue that
remained unsettled at the Rambouillet meeting, though new approaches
were suggested for the settlement of that issue. According to unchecked
data, the issue concerns Kelbajar region.

Meanwhile, according to “Novosti Armenii,” Mr. Kocharian stated
in Bucharest that the militant statements of Azerbaijan that almost
aren’t connected with the discussed theme make the impression that the
other side isn’t that interested in taking serious decisions for the
settlement of Nagorno Karabakh issue. “We discuss a variant that will
help achieve long-lasting and peaceful settlement. But I don’t have
big expectations from the meeting with the president of Azerbaijan,”
Kocharian said. He also expressed surprise concerning the Azeris’
statements, according to which the issue should be settled within
the framework of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and giving some
autonomy to Nagorno Karabakh.

Mr. Kocharian said that from the very first day of the establishment of
UN there has not been any nation that de facto achieved independence
due to its right for self-determination would change its mind and
return to the state they separated from. He added that the Armenian
people gave no grounds to think that they can act so.

The sides met at the Polish embassy in Bucharest. None makes any
comments on the place or the details of the negotiations. Daniel
Fried, US deputy State Secretary for European and Eurasian affairs,
said that the Nagorno Karabakh issue can and may have solely peaceful
settlement. Besides, Fried stated that the settlement depends on the
presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

At the same time, Peter Samneby, EU Special Representative to the
South Caucasus, refused to make comments on the current negotiations,
adding that at present, the sides have unique opportunity to settle
the conflict.