US MEDIATOR DENIES REFERENDUM TO BE HELD IN BREAKAWAY AZERI REGION
Turan news agency
6 Jun 07
Baku, 6 June: The US co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, Matthew
Bryza, has denied the statement the media has attributed to him that
Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to hold a referendum on the status
of Nagornyy Karabakh. "I have never said that the sides have agreed
to hold a referendum. I said the mediators think that the issue of
the status should be solved by means of voting," Bryza said at a news
conference in Baku today. However, he added, the issue of holding the
referendum should be solved "step by step" during the negotiations
between the two countries’ presidents. "For this reason, nothing has
been decided yet," Bryza said.
In his view, in general "nothing can be regarded as agreed in the
negotiations until all issues are agreed on".
In turn, the French co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, Bernard
Fassier, added that the presidents will determine "even the very name"
of the planned voting on the status of Nagornyy Karabakh.
The Russian co-chairman, Yuriy Merzlyakov, expressed the opinion that
the results of the meeting with the Azerbaijani leadership give hope
that the 9 June negotiations between the presidents of Azerbaijan and
Armenia in St Petersburg will be held in a constructive atmosphere
and become a step forward in the settlement process. The mediators
hope that the Armenian side will demonstrate a similar approach during
tomorrow’s negotiations with the co-chairmen in Yerevan.
All three co-chairmen shied away from answering how optimistic they
are about the St Petersburg meeting.
At the same time, Fassier said that one will be able to speak about
the mediators’ "optimism" when a "breakthrough" is achieved. This is
the moment when the presidents will instruct their foreign ministers
to prepare a draft peace agreement. At the same time, Fassier let
it be known that it is too early to hope for a "breakthrough" in St
Petersburg. If the sides supplement the basis of the negotiations in
St Petersburg, "that will be good news", Fassier stressed.