OSCE MINSK GROUP FORMAT CANNOT BE CHANGED NOW

KarabakhOpen
18-09-2007 11:38:47

The co-chairs reject everything that is not helpful to the resolution
of the conflict, and the militaristic statements are not helpful to
the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, stated the Russian
co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group in a news conference on September
17 in Yerevan.

With regard to the GUAM initiative to report frozen conflicts to the
UN Merzlyakov said: "mutual agreement of conflict sides is required
to report the issue to the UN," Regnum reported. Yuri Merzlyakov
said the sides, if they are member of the UN, can report the issue
to the UN General Assembly, but the resolution, even if the majority
of countries votes for it, will have an advisory nature. Therefore,
according to Merzlyakov, reporting the issue to the UN is not correct
in either the legal or the political aspect.

For his part, the French co-chair Bernard Fassier said the co-chairs
disapprove the transfer of the issue to the UN. The co-chair emphasized
that all the sides reject military actions for the resolution of the
conflict. As to the format of the talks, the French co-chair said the
change of the format is unacceptable. He said the OSCE is entitled
to mediation, and responsibility for the talks is the prerogative
of the three-party co-chairmanship, and change of the three-party
format of the OSCE Minsk Group is impossible in the nearest future,
RIA Novosti reported.

Bernard Fassier said Nagorno-Karabakh takes part in the talks
indirectly. He said the co-chairs meet with the Karabakh side and
they in fact contribute to the talks indirectly. The representatives
of Nagorno-Karabakh used to take part in the talks, and one day, the
sooner the better, they will participate in the talks, Fassier said.

For his part, the U.S. co-chair Matthew Bryza said Nagorno-Karabakh is
already participating in the talks. He said they visited Stepanakert
and listened to opinions and views they respect because they live in
that territory, hence they participate in the talks.

The Karabakh conflict occurred in 1988 when Nagorno-Karabakh with a
sheer Armenian population announced to secede from Azerbaijan.