AZERBAIJAN ACCEPTS UPDATED KARABAKH PRINCIPLES

news.az
Feb 15 2010
Azerbaijan

MFA of Azerbaijan Baku accepts "in general" the updated basic
principles of a Karabakh settlement, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister
Elmar Mammadyarov said today.

"We consider the updated basic principles proposed by the OSCE Minsk
Group in Athens to be acceptable", Mammadyarov told a briefing today
after talks with the OSCE chairman-in-office, Kazakh Foreign Minister
Kanat Saudabayev, Interfax-Azerbaijan reported.

This does not mean, however, that Azerbaijan agrees with all the
points set out in the basic principles.

"Our position is that that the updated principles are accepted in
general, but there are elements that do not suit us and require
coordination and the continuation of negotiations," he said.

Mammadyarov said that he recently contacted Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov, who said that the Armenian side had not expressed its
attitude to the updated guidelines, Interfax-Azerbaijan reported.

The Azerbaijani foreign minister said the status quo in the conflict
was unacceptable. "If we are building normal international relations
in the framework of the OSCE, the notion of ‘ethnic cleansing’ and
‘occupation of lands’ is unacceptable," Mammadyarov stressed.

The minister supported Kazakhstan’s chairmanship of the OSCE and the
country’s initiative to organize an OSCE Astana summit this year.

Mammadyarov said that Kazakhstan had firsthand experience of the
Karabakh problem, recalling that in the early 1990s, Kazakh President
Nursultan Nazarbayev and the then Russian president , Boris Yeltsin,
were personally involved in the settlement process and travelled to
the conflict region.

"We view Kazakhstan’s chairmanship of the OSCE as a positive factor.

It is positive that a country with which we, Azerbaijan and Armenia,
once lived together in a single state, is now the chairman of such
a prestigious organization," Mammadyarov said.

He said that during his six years as foreign minister he had seen
increased activity by the OSCE Minsk Group in the search for a Karabakh
settlement, according to Interfax-Azerbaijan.

"It is clear to the naked eye that there is movement in the process.

And it’s desirable for that movement to continue. We have an interest
in the confirmation of the updated principles [by the Armenian side
– Interfax-Azerbaijan], since this will mean that work can start on
preparing a comprehensive peace agreement."

"If the process does not bear fruit, then the question ‘What next?’
arises and all the players have to answer this," Mammadyarov said.

He said that the nub of the Karabakh problems was the "hardest part".

"And if we can make progress on this, then everyone will be a winner:
not only Azerbaijan and Armenia, but all the countries of the region,"
Mammadyarov said.

The basic principles as formulated earlier include the return of
the territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani control,
an interim status for Karabakh providing guarantees for security and
self-governance, and the future determination of the final legal status
of Nagorno-Karabakh through a legally binding expression of will.

The status of Karabakh is thought to be the key sticking point in the
negotiations. Azerbaijan insists that Karabakh should remain within
Azerbaijan, as is recognized by international law, while Armenia
wants a different status for the territory.

Azerbaijani presidential official Novruz Mammadov said in December
that little had changed in the updated version of the basic principles
from the Madrid version already published.