AZERBAIJAN LINGERS THE NEGOTIATION PROCEDURE

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[04:45 pm] 14 September, 2006

Armenia accepts and respects the right of each country to present a
question or an agenda item at the UN.

Although this particular item has reached the General Assembly Agenda
according to UN procedures, however the fact that the UN General
Committee rejected this initiative and that the item passed into
the General Assembly with a mere 16 in favor, 15 against, clearly
indicates the mood of the international community.

The initiative has been presented by GUAM, of which Azerbaijan is a
part. The fact that Azerbaijan has presented such an initiative in
such a forum is evidence again that Azerbaijan is backing down from
the right of self-determination identified in the last version of the
negotiating document that the Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group have
put on the table, as well as from discussions surrounding the right
of Nagorno Karabakh to determine its status through a referendum.

On the other hand, if Azerbaijan’s purpose is to delay and postpone
the settlement process within the OSCE framework with the intention of
later transferring that process to other forums, that is categorically
unacceptable for Armenia. In that case, Azerbaijan must sit around
the negotiating table with Nagorno Karabakh.