APA, Azerbaijan
Feb 21 2009

Matthew Bryza clarifies Co-chairs’ recent statement ` EXCLUSIVE

[ 21 Feb 2009 11:44 ]
Baku. Viktoriya Dementyeva-APA. The OSCE Minsk Group co-chair (USA)
Matthew Bryza has clarified the Co-Chairs’ February 19 statement.
`The February 19 statement speaks for itself.

We want the parties to understand that however they interpret the
subject reports that were circulated in New York, the Minsk Group
peace process can, should, and will continue, at least as far as the
Co-Chairs are concerned,’ Matthew Bryza told APA in an interview.
The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassadors Bernard Fassier of
France, Yury Merzlyakov of Russia, and Matthew Bryza of the United
States, released a statement on February 19 in relation to the two
reports circulated at the request of the Permanent Representative of
Azerbaijan to the United Nations, Agshin Mehdiyev.
In the letter dated December 24, 2008, Agshin Mehdiyev requested the
circulation of the letter as a UN Assembly and Security Council
document on the UN General Assembly session agenda item 13 (Protracted
conflicts in the GUAM area and their implications for international
peace, security and development) and item 18 (on the situation in the
occupied lands of Azerbaijan).

In the report, Agshin Mehdiyev addressed two questions to the United
Nations on behalf of the Government of Azerbaijan.

– Did the Republic of Armenia make a military offensive onto Nagorno
Karabakh and adjacent regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan?

– Can the Republic of Azerbaijan use the inherent right of
self-defense from the Republic of Armenia in accordance with Article
51 of the UN Charter?

Besides, his letter dated December 29, 2008 reflects a report and a
appendix on the Basic Territorial Integrity Norms of States and Rights
to Self-Determination in Light of Armenian Revisionist Claims.

The documents were posted on the UN website.