MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS TO INFORM NEXT OSCE CHAIRMAN-IN-OFFICE ON ESSENCE OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT
Author: E.Huseynov

TREND, Azerbaijan
Dec 6 2006

Elmar Mammadyraov, the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister, stated
during his interview for the local daily Zerkalo that the OSCE
Minsk Group Co-chairs intend to visit Madrid to inform the next
Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, the Spanish Foreign Minister, on
the situation regarding the resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. He was commenting on the meeting with
the Minsk Group co-chairs in Brussels.

During the discussions they sounded a proposal on the organization
of a next meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers,
though the format of talks is still to be defined. With respect to
reasons of non-conduct of talks with the Armenian Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanian in Brussels, the Minister said that earlier he had
meeting with his Armenian counterpart in Minsk. "The Armenians have
asked for a break in talks to fully comprehend the situation before
deciding the direction in which the talks should continue. As far as
I understood there has been no response and no meeting.

Mammadyarov announced that only a few items now remained to be
discussed to co-ordinate the positions and in this context we
understand the responsibility specified for a negotiator who is
responsible for promoting the talks with the purpose of liberating
the areas and reputation of the refugees. He also commented on the
existence of the two hypotheses in the talks. These are the terms of
referendum on the status of the Nagorno-Karabakh of which Armenia
insists to be 5 years, but we agree a conduct of referendum after
15 years. The second is linked with the return of Lachin District
of Azerbaijan.

Mr. Mammadyarov approached the statement, in a positive manner,
made by the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, who called
the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Ilham Aliyev and Robert
Kocharian, on behalf of the OSCE Minsk Group chairs, to co-ordinate
basic principles of the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

In the current stage of negotiations, it is necessary to achieve
more international community attention. The attention that we have
drawn over the past two years is obvious. For the first time the NATO
Summit in Riga determined exactly the position of the member-states
which should be taken as a basis for the resolution of the conflict
in the South Caucasus and Moldova.

So, all NATO countries support the principles of territorial integrity
and sovereignty of South Caucasus countries and Moldova. It provides
strict boundaries for the resolution of conflicts. Along with NATO
member-countries, the resolution adopted at the Council of Europe,
as well as bilateral documents with the EU, consolidates a new action
plan, he emphasized.