AZERI SPOKESMAN CRITICIZES MEDIATOR’S REFERENCE TO "NAGORNYY KARABAKH PEOPLE"
Yeni Azarbaycan
Nov 19 2008
Azerbaijan
There is no "Nagornyy Karabakh people" and such statements by a
co-chairman are unacceptable. The head of the Azerbaijani Foreign
Ministry press service, Xazar Ibrahim, has said this in a comment
on ideas about "the Nagornyy Karabakh people and Nagornyy Karabakh’s
participation in [peace] talks as a party [to the conflict]" which the
French co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group Bernard Fassier expressed
in Armenia.
Ibrahim said that no Nagornyy Karabakh people exists at all and the
participation of the separatist regime’s leader in the peace talks
is impossible too. This [participation in talks] also runs counter to
the Moscow declaration [signed on 2 November]. The Moscow declaration
was signed by the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents. This shows
that the parties to the conflict are Armenia and Azerbaijan.
On the other hand, Mr Fassier’s ideas are also surprising because
the Russian president signed the declaration too. Russia is one of
the co-chairs [of the Minsk Group]. It is not understandable why a
representative of one co-chair country makes a statement against the
president of another co-chair country. Ibrahim said that the population
of Nagornyy Karabakh consists of both Azerbaijanis and Armenians and
members of both communities are Azerbaijani citizens. Therefore,
there is no "Nagornyy Karabakh people" and such statements by the
co-chairman are unacceptable.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
