GORAN LENNMARKER: NO MATTER WHAT DECISION ON KOSOVO IS TAKEN, IT WON’T AFFECT SETTLEMENT OF KARABAKH CONFLICT

Yerevan, February 9. ArmInfo. According to the APA Azeri news
agency, at a meeting with the students and lecturers of the Baku
State University, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
Goran Lennmarker said that the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict is of much importance for the whole region and its European
integration. He added that the year 2007 may become the last one for
this conflict.

He pointed out the falseness of the opinion that the existence
of the conflict is an anomalistic phenomenon. While discussing
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, he tells everybody that such kind
of conflicts are normal phenomena for the European history,
he noted. Azerbaijan proclaimed its independence in 1991,
and the international laws recognize Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity. Pointing out the inadmissibility of Kosovo’s model for the
settlement of the Karabakh conflict, G.Lennmarker said that no matter
what decision on Kosovo is taken, it won’t affect the settlement of the
Karabakh conflict. These are two different conflicts with different
historical background. The OSCE has been engaged in this issue for a
long time. The organization tries to facilitate the negotiations, but
the MG itself cannot take a decision on the conflict settlement. It
can only contribute to it.

G.Lennmarker hopes that the settlement of the conflict will satisfy
both sides. Parliamentary elections will shortly be held in Armenia,
and if one looks at the issue from the Armenian viewpoint, it will
be quite hard to have some progress in the peace process within the
next few months. He expressed hope that after the elections, the
conflict will be settled in a peaceful way. The President of the OSCE
Parliamentary Assembly noted that a lot of young Azerbaijanians and
Armenians are annually killed on the contact line of the two-countries’
troops, and added that he advocates returning people to their homes.