FOREIGN MINISTER OF ARMENIA MAKES A STATEMENT AT THE 16TH OSCE MINISTERIAL MEETING

armradio.am
05.12.2008 13:40

The Foreign Minister of Armenia, Edward Nalbandian, made a statement
at the 16th OSCE Ministerial meeting. The full text of the Minister’s
speech is presented below:

"Mr. Chairman
Dear Colleagues

I would like to begin by thanking the Finnish Chairmanship-in-Office
and Minister Alexander Stubb for the devoted and effective work
throughout the year.

Helsinki is a city whose name will be forever linked to the basic
principles governing the relations between the countries of the
OSCE area.

It would be highly symbolic if here, in Helsinki, we set the basis
for the future deliberations on the improvement of the capabilities
of our Organization, which requires truly joint effort and efficient
partnership. A discussion around an OSCE Charter and the legal
personality of the OSCE could become a good basis to test various
ideas and develop common positions through a dialogue. This is a time
for united action and I hope that we will leave Helsinki with a clear
commitment to strengthen the effectiveness of our organization.

Mr. Chairman,

Armenia is interested in continued cooperation within the OSCE in
all three dimensions.

In human dimension we are ready to continue constructive cooperation
with the OSCE/ODIHR, yet at the same time we support the re-evaluation
of the role o f the ODHIR and a higher level of its accountability
before the member states. We are ready to work with all interested
member states in this direction.

We are prepared to work towards developing a more consolidated approach
in economic-environmental dimension in order to ensure its continuity
and sustainability.

We note the importance of the dialogue on the OSCE political-military
dimension. Conventional arms control is an issue of primary
importance. The situation in our region makes the maintenance of the
Conventional Arms Control Treaty more imperative. Full implementation
of commitments is crucial for the security and stability of the area
of application.

Regrettably, Azerbaijan’s massive military build-up conducted in
violation of its international obligations has not received an adequate
reaction from the majority of the state parties of the Convention.

An arms race can lead to a resumption of a military conflict. The
situation becomes somehow classic – if there is a gun on the stage,
it has to fire.

Europe obviously needs a new security architecture, which will take
into account all the existing concerns. With this in mind, we think
that a debate over a European security treaty can provide a good
forum for the development of a commonly acceptable system.

That is why we support the proposal by Presidents of France and Russia
regarding the convening of a summit to launch the negotiations on
the 0Aimplementation of the initiative to develop a European Security
Treaty.

Dear Colleagues,

I would now like to inform you on the latest developments of the
Nagorno Karabakh peace process for which OSCE has an important
mediation role through the dedicated effort of the three Minsk Group
Co-Chairs.

The negotiations on Nagorno Karabakh settlement received a new
impetus at the Moscow meeting initiated by President of the Russian
Federation in his capacity as a Head of Co-Chair state and the
signing by Presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia of the Moscow
Declaration. The Co-Chairs supported and approved the Declaration,
and we believed that it would intensify the peace process.

However, Azerbaijan misinterprets all the provisions of the Declaration
going as far as stating, in particular, that the peaceful settlement
does not exclude use of force. I wonder if there is any other state
here, around this table, which could have such interpretation of the
very clear notion of the ‘peaceful political settlement.’

The other vivid example of the misinterpretation of the declaration
and the whole process of negotiations, was the provocative non-paper
distorting the whole sense of the peace talks circulated yesterday
by Azerbaijani delegation, which I don’t even want to comment.

Despite this, we would want to hope that we will be able to maintain
the spirit and the positive momentum of the Moscow declaration=2 0and
will advance towards the resolution of the conflict. This was also
the vision of the declaration made yesterday by the three Co-Chair
countries in framework of our Ministerial meeting.

Dear Colleagues,

There is one more long-standing problem which needs wise approach
and political courage to be resolved. I would like to briefly touch
upon the Armenian-Turkish relations, the normalization of which will
highly contribute to the establishment of stability and security in
the whole region.

The bold steps taken by the Presidents of Armenia and Turkey
demonstrate political will and readiness to move forward. Of course,
no one expects miracles and we were pragmatic enough not to think that
all problems would be solved overnight. However, the important thing
is to achieve a tangible result and not to negotiate for the sake of
negotiations. We are looking for establishment of diplomatic relations
and opening of borders without any precondition and we expect the
same approach from the Turkish side. Parties continue to work and
negotiate and I hope that together we will achieve what I believe
is our common goal – normalize our relations and bring security and
stability to our region.

Mr Chairman, In conclusion, I would like to wish success to the
incoming Chairmanship-in-Office and to ensure my distinguished Greek
colleague, Minister Dora Bakoyanis that she can count on the support
of Armenia in all her e ndeavours aimed at reaching security and
prosperity in the OSCE area.

Thank you."