NO CHANGES ON THE NEGOTIATION FRONT
Lilit Poghosyan

Hayots Ashkharh daily
Sept 7 2007
Armenia

Yesterday Foreign Minister VARDAN OSKANYAN convened a press conference
with the purpose of summing up the results of the meeting held
in Brussels

The Foreign Minister refuted the sensational information according
to which Migel Ankhel Moratinos, OSCE Chairman-in-Office and Spanish
Foreign Minister, had announced that it was time to give up the Minsk
Group format and find a new format for the talks, since "the parties
are not satisfied with the existing formats".

"I don’t know what Mr. Moratinos means. He has made that statement,
but he doesn’t seem to have opened the brackets. It is difficult to
make any comments unless we know what exactly he meant," V. Oskanyan
stated with hesitation. He assured that the Armenian side does not,
in any case, share the viewpoint that the process of the Minsk Group
has exhausted itself and that it is necessary to adopt radically new
approaches in order to move forward with the negotiations. Moreover,
"I strictly doubt that Mr. Moratinos meant that it was necessary to
break off the Minsk Group negotiation process."

As confirmed by V. Oskanyan, the extraordinary meeting that took
place in Brussels did not absolutely introduce a new emphasis or
a fresh note with regard to this particular issue. "I don’t have
much to say at this point. My meeting with the Co-Chairs was not
previously planned. You are aware that out meeting had already taken
place in Paris a few months before, and the Co-Chairs were to have a
meeting Mr. Mamedyarov. The meeting was held, and there was probably a
necessity to have another meeting with me, and I accepted their offer.

Judging by the information reported to me as an outcome of the meeting
with Mr. Mamedyarov, there is nothing new in terms of contents, i.e. we
have no progress after the Presidents’ St. Petersburg meeting. The
only agreement which was achieved is the Co-Chairs’ regional visit
expected at the beginning of next week."

Besides, the Co-Chairs may also visit Karabakh to meet the
newly-elected NKR President.

V. Oskanyan sticks to the opinion the only thing required for achieving
a breakthrough in the negotiations is "for Azerbaijan to make bold
steps." Even in a situation when the Azerbaijani party, in the person
of Foreign Minister Mamedyarov, has ruled out the possibility of
"bold steps", saying that Armenia must not anticipate an unexpected
change of attitude by the Azerbaijani side.

With regard to the Azeri diplomat’s provocative statement that the
Armenian side has taken a "pause" after the St. Petersburg meeting
and deliberately lays obstacles towards achieving the resolution of
the problem, this information does not simply correspond to reality.

That’s to say, it is an obviously false statement, characteristic
to Azerbaijan.

In the estimation of the speaker, the negotiation process pursues
its regular course. It is a different matter that "there is some
disagreement around certain issues. And if Azerbaijan continues to
persist in its extremist attitudes, the process will not, certainly,
move forward. And if they make bold steps by following the spirit
of compromise, I think the document gives them a serious opportunity
for the peaceful settlement of the issue."

Are the Co-Chairs aware of Mr. Aliev’s long-range programs aimed
at carrying out "anti-terrorist actions" in Azerbaijan, and what is
their attitude towards this regular manifestation of blackmail tactics?

Our question made it clear that the topic had not been absolutely
touched upon during the Brussels meeting.

In response to another question, V. Oskanyan assured that the Co-Chairs
use absolutely no pressure against the parties, especially against
the Armenian side, likewise last year and the year before.

"The Co-Chairs are not in the habit of using pressure in general.

They are mediators and have their own methods of persuading people.

Sometimes they prove successful, and sometimes they do not."

The most important thing is that, "they always act within the
frameworks of logic. They listen to the parties’ attitudes, often
containing contradictory viewpoints, but they know how to distinguish
things in between: what to take off the whole stuff and what to put
on the table. The closer your proposal to the logic, the more the
Co-Chairs’ approaches are in harmony with your attitude. In that
regards, we have no specific complaint against the Co-Chairs. I
believe that they carry out their mission as mediators in a proper
manner. Anyway, we do not feel pressures by the third parties, at
least as far as the Armenian side is concerned."

The Foreign Minister also stated that no issue regarding the
replacement of the Co-Chairs is included in the agenda, at least for
the time being. The conversation is about the US Co-Chair Matthew
Bryza, who, as some people believe, has lost his reputation as an
impartial Co-Chair by getting married to a Turkish woman and has to be
replaced by someone else not fettered by the bonds of a Turkish family.