WHITE HOUSE PUBLICIZED MADRID PRINCIPLES

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
11.07.2009 14:02 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ OSCE MG Co-Chairing states affirm their commitment
to assist Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders in finalizing the Basic
Principles for settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

White House has released a document defining the basic principles
based upon the Co-Chairs’ recent statement. "We are instructing our
mediators to present to the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan an
updated version of the Madrid Document of November 2007, the Co-Chairs
last articulation of the Basic Principles. We urge the Presidents
of Armenia and Azerbaijan to resolve the few differences remaining
between them and finalize their agreement on these Basic Principles,
which will outline a comprehensive settlement. The ministers of the
US, France, and Russia presented a preliminary version of the Basic
Principles for a settlement to Armenia and Azerbaijan in November 2007
in Madrid. The Basic Principles reflect a reasonable compromise based
on the Helsinki Final Act principles of Non-Use of Force, Territorial
Integrity, and the Equal Rights and Self-Determination of Peoples.

The Basic Principles call for inter alia: — return of the territories
surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani control –an interim
status for Nagorno-Karabakh providing guarantees for security and
self-governance, –a corridor linking Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh;
–future determination of the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh
through a legally binding expression of will; — the right of all
internally displaced persons and refugees to return to their former
places of residence; and — international security guarantees that
would include a peacekeeping operation.

The endorsement of these Basic Principles by Armenia and Azerbaijan
will allow the drafting of a comprehensive settlement to ensure a
future of peace, stability, and prosperity for Armenia and Azerbaijan
and the broader region," says the release.