ARMENIAN, AZERI LEADERS ‘AGREED TO KARABAKH REFERENDUM’
By Emil Danielyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
June 27 2006

The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan have accepted the idea of
enabling the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to decide their status in
a referendum but disagree on other, less significant issues, the
Armenian Foreign Ministry said late Monday.

The ministry also for the first time openly blamed Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliev for the collapse of his last peace talks with
his Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian held in Bucharest on June
4-5. It warned that Yerevan could pull out of the negotiating process
if Baku refuses to sign up to a framework peace accord proposed by
the American, French and Russian mediators.

Key principles of that accord were revealed to RFE/RL by the new U.S.
co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Matthew Bryza, late last week.

Bryza confirmed that it calls for the holding of a referendum in
Karabakh after the liberation of Armenian-occupied territories in
Azerbaijan surrounding the disputed enclave.

Yerevan’s reaction to the move was negative, with President Robert
Kocharian saying through a spokesman that Bryza disclosed only a part
of the proposed peace deal and threatening to publicize it in full.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry appears to have done just that,
indicating in a written statement that the mediators also believe
Karabakh should retain an overland link with Armenia and remain under
Armenian control before the referendum. Still, the ministry was clearly
more positive about the U.S. official’s remarks. "The co-chairs have,
for the first time, affirmed that the people of Nagorno-Karabakh
shall determine their own future status through a referendum," read
its statement.

"Those items over which the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan
continue to disagree do not include a referendum; that concept has
been agreed to by the presidents," it said. "The area of disagreement
between the presidents has to do with the sequence in which the
consequences of the military conflict are removed."

Aliev and Kocharian reportedly disagreed, among other things, on a
time frame for Armenian withdrawal from Kelbajar, one of the seven
occupied Azerbaijani districts sandwiched between Karabakh and Armenia,
during their previous meeting held at the Rambouillet castle outside
Paris in February.

"In an attempt to resolve this remaining area of disagreement, a
proposal was made by the co-chairs after Rambouillet. This proposal
was accepted by Armenia in Bucharest. Azerbaijan rejected it," the
Foreign Ministry said without elaborating.

Aliev’s apparent acceptance of the referendum option, which sparked
unusually upbeat statements by the mediators late last year and early
this, is at odds with his repeated public statements ruling out any
possibility of Karabakh’s de jure secession from Azerbaijan. While
confirming the veracity of the peace deal outlined by Bryza,
Azerbaijani officials say they are only ready to grant Karabakh a
status of autonomy within Azerbaijan.

Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov reiterated this on Tuesday. "This
could be an autonomy like [the Azerbaijani exclave of] Nakhichevan,
[the Russian autonomous republics of] Tatarstan and Bashkiria and
other entities," he said, according to Day.az.

The Foreign Ministry in Yerevan made it clear, however, that
Karabakh’s return under Azerbaijani control is non-negotiable for
the Armenian side and said Baku must instead go along with the Minsk
Group plan. "Armenia finds that the basic principles, overall, on
the table today remain a serious basis for continuing negotiations,"
it said. "Armenia is prepared to continue on that basis to negotiate
with Azerbaijan; Armenia believes that Azerbaijan’s wavering on these
principles is a serious obstacle to progress in the negotiations. If
this policy continues, Armenia will insist that Azerbaijan conduct
direct negotiations with Nagorno-Karabakh."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress