UN RESOLUTION ON KARABAKH COULD COMPLICATE NEGOTIATIONS – YEREVAN

Interfax News Agency
March 17 2008
Russia

The draft resolution on Nagorno Karabakh put forward by Azerbaijan
and approved by the United Nations’ General Assembly will not help
resolve the conflict, said Viktor Sogomonian, a spokesman for the
Armenian president.

"I do not want to say whether Armenia is going to remain within
or withdraw from this negotiating format, the negotiating process
will tell. However, it is obvious that such steps cannot lead to
a settlement of the Karabakh conflict," he told a press conference
on Monday.

"The statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry shows that the OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairmen (Russia, the United States and France) believe
that this resolution can undermine the whole negotiating process,"
the spokesman said.

Earlier the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a commentary, that the
results of the voting on a UN General Assembly resolution on Nagorno-
Karabakh are a clear reflection of the international community’s
stance on the issue.

"The resolution proposed by Azerbaijan was supported by only 39
countries from GUAM and the Organization of the Islamic conference.

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen, which are the U.S., France, and
Russia, and also Armenia and a number of other countries voted against
the resolution, and more than 150 countries either abstained or did
not take part in the voting at all," it said.

"I hope the results of the voting will serve as the international
community’s signal to Azerbaijan," Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanian said. "An overwhelming majority of UN countries rejected a
unilateral approach on this issue," he said.

"By rejecting Azerbaijan’s resolution, the international community
showed that it supports the document on the negotiating table, which
makes it possible to converge the seemingly contradictory principles
of people’s right to self-determination and the territorial integrity
of states. This document enables Armenia and Azerbaijan to move the
negotiating process ahead," he said.

Oskanian qualified the resolution as hypocritical. "On the one
hand, the document proposed by Baku is aimed at misinforming the
international community, and on the other, the resolution contains
a provision in support for the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen, who had
clearly stated their disagreement with the proposed document the day
before and voted against it," he said.

"It is a question of whether Azerbaijan will continue to undermine
the peace process or will sit at the negotiating table," Oskanian said.

Oskanian once again reaffirmed Armenian President-elect Serzh
Sargsyan’s willingness to meet with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev,
given the latter’s and the OSCE Minsk Group’s consent.

"Such an opportunity does exist," Oskanian said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress