APA, Azerbaijan
May 16 2009

Bernard Fassier: Final document will not be signed at the
St. Petersburg meeting of the presidents

[ 16 May 2009 11:56 ]

Baku. Viktoria Dementieva ` APA. `Elements on the settlement of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict were determined in Prague and we should
coordinate these elements together,’ French co-chair of OSCE Minsk
Group Bernard Fassier told journalists at Heydar Aliyev international
airport, APA reports.

He said that the co-chairs decided to continue working on the issue as
soon as possible. Bernard Fassier said American co-chair Matthew Bryza
will visit the region to advance the process on the eve of the
St. Petersburg meeting and Russian co-chair Yuri Merzlyakov will make
preparations for the St. Petersburg meeting. Asked whether the process
of negotiations will end and any document will be signed in the
upcoming meeting, Bernard Fassier said the process of negotiations is
a long process and underlined that it is impossible to sign final
document in the St. Petersburg.

`The process will end when the presidents are ready to sign peace
agreement. We are still at the beginning of the process. The co-chairs
have proposals to be put to discussion during the presidents’
meetings. It depends on the presidents when these meetings will be
held and the peace agreement will be signed. We had better confirm
compromise on three items and pass the other items. The text of the
agreement can be prepared after all the proposals are agreed on. The
draft agreement can be signed after the discussions,’ he said.

To the question `How much time is required for the final solution of
the conflict?’ Fassier said.
`I hope the final solution of this problem will be, for instance,
earlier than the conflict in the Near East. The talks between Israel
and Palestine have been lasting for over half a century,’ he said.

Leaving Baku for Ankara French diplomat underlined that he will have
discussions with Turkish officials.
`This is one of the usual discussions between the members of the Minsk
Group France and Turkey. We will discuss all current issues. There
have recently been many visits from Turkey to Azerbaijan. We will
discuss them,’ he said.
Bernard Fassier said normalization of Turkey-Armenia relations should
not be confused with Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.
`These are different and parallel processes,’ he said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress