ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Jan 14 2008

Prevention of new war in Karabakh priority of world community,
Kazimirov says

YEREVAN, January 14. /ARKA/. Prevention of a new war in Karabakh is
the priority of the world community, Ambassador Valdimir Kazimirov,
former Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, said during the
international conference on the Black Sea cooperation in Yerevan.

He believes priorities of Yerevan, Stepanakert and Baku are known to
everyone: for Armenians, this is the status of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic, for Azerbaijani people it is the issue of the occupied
territories and return of migrants.
In contrast to `one-time conflicts’, Karabakh has a tragic
prehistory, which imposes both a quick settlement of the conflict and
prevention of bloodsheds between Armenia and Azerbaijan, according to
Kazimirov.

He believes the official Baku itches for a new war and revenge. This
is why, the world community should focus on the war threats hysteria
of Azerbaijan, publicity campaign of the military budget, armaments
drive, double-faced attitude towards incidents on the borderline,
`total’ negativism, refusal to establish contacts with Armenians and
restrictions of the freedom of the press, according to Kazimirov.

The Karabakh conflict broke out in 1988 when Nagorno Karabakh, mainly
populated by Armenians, declared its independence from Azerbaijan.

On December 10, 1991, a few days after the collapse of the Soviet
Union, a referendum took place in Nagorno-Karabakh, and the majority
of the population (99.89%) voted for independence from Azerbaijan.

Afterwards, large-scale military operations began, as a result of
which Azerbaijan lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven
regions adjacent to it.

On May 12, 1994 after the signing of the Bishkek cease-fire
agreement, the military operations were stopped.
Since 1992, negotiations over the peaceful settlement of the conflict
have been carried out within the OSCE Minsk Group, co-chaired by the
USA, Russia and France.

The two-week international conference on the prospects of the Black
Sea regional cooperation and security opened in Yerevan on January
14. The organizers of the event are the Armenian International Policy
Research Group (AIPRG), sponsored by NATO, OSCE, the Union of the YSU
Graduates and the Embassy of Netherlands.

EU Special Representative to the South Caucasus Peter Semneby, former
Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassador Vladimir Kazimirov, as
well as acting US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Matthew Bryza are
among the participants to the conference.

Representatives of the Royal Institute of Foreign Affairs and the
International Institute for Strategic Studies (UK), Reuters
information Agency, RAND Corporation, Brookings Institution, Center
for Strategic and International Studies (UK), the US Enterprise
Institute, Jamestown Fund, US Department of State, the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of Great Britain and EU will participate in the Black
Sea discussions.
Delegations from Turkey, Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Georgia,
Azerbaijan and Russia are invited to participate in the conference.
Z. Sh. -0–