TRILATERAL MEETING BETWEEN PRESIDENTS MAY END IN SUCCESSIVE MAINDORF DECLARATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
21.01.2010 13:36 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The upcoming trilateral meeting between Armenian,
Azerbaijani and Russian Presidents will probably focus on serious
issues, with Russia trying to make out Armenia and Azerbaijan’s
maneuvers, Armenia’s ex-Foreign Minister Alexander Arzumanyan finds.

"I don’t think the Presidents will sign any document in Sochi. But even
a document is signed, it will be equivalent to Maindorf Declaration
not essentially impacting Karabakh settlement process," he told a
news conference in Yerevan.

At that, he noted that such development will not push Turkey to sign
Protocols, considering that there is serious progress in conflict
settlement process.

The trilateral meeting between Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani
leaders in due in Sochi on January 25.

The Artsakh ( Nagorno Karabakh Republic) (NKR) is a de facto
independent republic located in the South Caucasus, bordering by
Azerbaijan to the north and east, Iran to the south, and Armenia to
the west.

After the Soviet Union established control over the area, in 1923
it formed the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) within the
Azerbaijan SSR. In the final years of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan
launched an ethnic cleansing which resulted in the Karabakh War that
was fought from 1991 to 1994.

Since the ceasefire in 1994, most of Nagorno Karabakh and several
regions of Azerbaijan around it (the security zone) remain under the
control of Nagorno Karabakh defense army.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have since been holding peace talks mediated
by the OSCE Minsk Group.

Maindorf Declaration: an interstate agreement signed by Presidents
of Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Armenia and Russian Federation
on November 2, 2008 in Maindorf (outskirts of Moscow).

Under the document, the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan took
commitment "to contribute to enhancing the situation in South Caucasus
and ensuring peace, stability and security via political settlement
of Nagorno Karabakh conflict based on the principles and norms of
international law and decisions and documents deriving thereof."

Parties reiterated the significant role of continuing Minsk Group’s
mediatory efforts in the frameworks of Madrid Document (dated Nov. 29,
2007).

They also agreed that "peaceful conflict settlement should be
accompanied by legally binding international guarantees."

The Protocols aimed at normalization of bilateral ties and opening of
the border between Armenia and Turkey were signed in Zurich by Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet
Davutoglu on October 10, 2009, after a series of diplomatic talks
held through Swiss mediation.