NEW HOPES FOR THE PRESIDENT’S MEETING AND RECURRENT VIOLATION OF 14-YEAR-CEASEFIRE
By Aghavni Haroutiunian
AZG Armenian Daily #091
14/05/2008
Karabakh issue
The meeting of the new President of Armenia and the Azerbaijani
President may take place in St.
Petersburg, during the 12th International Energy Forum and CIS informal
Summit on June 6-8, OSCE Minsk Group French Co-chair Bernard Fassier
announced on May 5 yet.
Last week, as it was scheduled, Armenian newly appointed Foreign
Minister Edward Nalbandian met with the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister
Elmar Mammadyarov on the threshold of the 118th session of the Council
of Europe Ministerial Committee.
According to MG French Co-chair Bernard Fassier, the meeting of the
Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers had a cognitive nature;
moreover, the Co-chairs had good expectations of that meeting.
According to the French Co-chair, the meeting might show the level
of the sides’ readiness to continue the works.
Anyway, the Co-chairs were not going to submit any basic proposal,
and as they announced on different occasions, they weren’t. But issues
of the next visit of the Co-chairs to the region and also possibility
of the meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents would be
discussed during the meeting. Several variants of the meeting of the
Presidents were mentioned, and one of them – the possible meeting on
June 6-8, in St. Petersburg, in the framework of 12th International
Energy Forum.
Azerbaijani FM Elmar Mammadyarov spoke of the similar possibility the
day before yesterday. He added also that during the meeting with the
Armenian FM Edward Nalbandian an arrangement was made for the meeting
of the Presidents, mentioning the meeting in St. Petersburg as a
possible variant.
At the same time, on May 12, at 11.00 a.m., the Azerbaijani armed
forces fired upon the positions of the Armenian armed forces in
Baghanis village of Tavush province of the Republic of Armenia. As
RA Defense Ministry Press office reported, resident of the village,
shepherd Lorik Mesrop Avagian (born in 1957) was wounded because of
the fire. He was taken to Ijevan hospital and operated on.
In comparison of the certainty of the Armenian side’s information, the
Azerbaijani news agencies are producing so much unproven information
of the firings upon the Azerbaijani positions, that more frequently it
is evident that it’s disinformation and not information of importance
and influence.
Anyway, it is already 14 years that ceasefire is a reality, but there
are no bases to speak of real ceasefire. There are no bases to speak
loudly of the progress of the negotiation process as well.
Nevertheless, the two sides speak of the violations of the ceasefire,
but the representatives of OSCE observatory mission always record
the state of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border as without incidents and
with this justify the usage of the words "frozen conflict". While the
firings continue on the contact line, and even the Azerbaijani side
takes steps to repeat its March failure of taking of some Armenian
positions, OSCE Minsk Group, together with the observatory mission,
prefers only statements on a level of conversation and hopes that
the sides will act only in the framework of peaceful settlement.