MATTHEW BRYZA: THE RESIDENTS OF NAGORNO KARABAKH SHOULD PLAY A KEY ROLE IN DETERMINING THEIR REGION’S STATUS

Azeri Press Agency
Aug 5 2008
Azerbaijan

Baku. Tamara Grigoryeva – APA. "Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign
Ministers’ meeting in Moscow on August 1 was positive.

As both Ministers Elmar Mammadyarov and Edward Nalbandian stated
at their press conference, their one-on-one discussion lasted over
an hour and was held in a positive mood," American Co-Chair of OSCE
Minsk Group Matthew Bryza told APA.

He said the Foreign Ministers agreed to continue negotiations under the
Minsk Group to reconcile their countries’ respective positions on the
remaining issues as outlined in the Co-Chairs’ November 2007 Madrid
Document, which sets out suggestions proposed by the Co-Chairs to
guide the negotiation of a framework agreement for a final resolution.

"The Co-Chairs’ suggestions form a balanced package. It is very
important to remember that no single element has been agreed. The only
way any element of the Madrid Document can be agreed is if all elements
are agreed at the same time in a broad package," the Co-Chair said.

Matthew Bryza said the Co-Chairs proceed from a starting position of
recognizing Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.

"To reach a political settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
Armenia and Azerbaijan will eventually have to reach a compromise on
NK’s status. We cannot predict what that compromise will look like, or
when it will emerge. But, the Co-Chairs recommend that the residents
of NK play a key role in determining their region’s status through
some type of voting process at some point in the future," he said.

American mediator considers that the specifics of such a voting
process must be negotiated.

"Such a voting process could only emerge after the return of internally
displaced persons and refugees, which could take quite some time,"
he said.