MEDIATORS ‘STILL TRYING TO GET KARABAKH DEAL IN 2006′
By Harry Tamrazian in Prague and Karine Kalantarian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Sept 12 2006

International mediators believe that they may still succeed in
brokering a framework peace agreement on Nagorno-Karabakh in the
coming months, Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said after meeting
them in Paris on Tuesday.

"They believe that it is still possible to make some additional
progress before the end of this year or before our parliamentary
elections [due early next year] at the latest," he told RFE/RL by
phone after two days of negotiations with the American, French and
Russian co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Oskanian described the talks as "very good and effective" but gave
few details, saying only that they focused on ways of reinvigorating
the Karabakh peace process, which ran into trouble this summer after
substantial progress reportedly made by the conflicting parties. The
mediators are trying to arrange a meeting of the Armenian and
Azerbaijani foreign ministers for that purpose, he said, adding that
it might take place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in
New York later this month.

The co-chairs, among them U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
Matthew Bryza, are scheduled to hold similar talks with Azerbaijan’s
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov in London on Wednesday. "The results
[of their efforts] can be assessed only after their meeting with the
Azerbaijani foreign minister and, if there is agreement, after the
two ministers’ meeting," said Oskanian.

The latest round of Minsk Group diplomacy began amid talk of yet
another Armenian-Azerbaijani summit on Karabakh that could be held
on the sidelines of a CIS summit in Belarus slated for October 16. A
spokesman for President Robert Kocharian did not rule the possibility
of such an encounter on Tuesday. "But before it can happen, there must
be a meeting of the foreign ministers," Victor Soghomonian told RFE/RL.

"Only after the ministers meet and clarify whether there is a chance
to continue negotiations and make further progress will it be possible
to talk about a meeting of the presidents," agreed Oskanian.

Kocharian and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliev have already
met twice this year in unsuccessful attempts to agree on a framework
peace accord put forward by the mediators. The proposed deal calls
for a gradual settlement of the Karabakh conflict that would culminate
in a referendum on the disputed region’s status.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress