AGAIN MATTHEW BRYZA AND AGAIN TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY?
By Aghavni Haroutiunian

AZG Armenian Daily
18/02/2009

Karabakh issue

According to the Armenian side, "Recognition and realization of
Artsakh people’s right to self-determination is the pivotal issue"

In an interview to the "Voice of America" radio-station, OSCE Minsk
Group Co-chair Matthew Bryza said that working out of the agreement
on Karabakh issue is approaching. According to him, it will proceed
from the principle of territorial integrity, but also will include
the self-determination and non-use of force doctrines.

In this connection, Head of the Department for Mass Media Relations
of RA FM press service Tigran Balayan mentioned that the aim of the
announcement is not clear.

"But an impression is produced that similar announcement was made
to hamper the negotiation process developing on the basis of Madrid
proposals, which are based on three equivalent international principles
-non-use of force, right to self-determination and territorial
integrity", the Foreign Ministry cleared up.

"The Armenian side has announced many times that recognition and
realization of Artsakh people’s right to self-determination is the
pivotal issue", Tigran Balayan added, according to the official
website of the Foreign Ministry.

"Today the negotiations are conducted round the principles of the
conflict settlement. And at present there are no arrangements over
them, and in general, it is very soon to speak about an agreement",
Tigran Balayan underlined.

"Azg" daily wants to recall that Matthew Bryza is the only MG Co-chair
that is always the centre of attention because of "verbiage" that
is always followed by "misunderstanding". The OSCE MG Co-chair had
to refute many times that this or that idea in his interviews to
different news agencies does not correspond to reality.

It is very interesting that connected with the above-mentioned issue
Matthew Bryza once more announced that he had not said similar thing
and that the journalists had wrongly commented on his words. Even in
Yerevan Bryza underlined that he had not said similar thing.

Nevertheless, the other two Co-chairs have never spoken of a supremacy
of any principle in the process of Karabakh conflict settlement.