MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIR URGES INTERIM STATUS FOR NAGORNY KARABAKH

RIA Novosti
March 12, 2010
YEREVAN

Any solution to the Nagorny Karabakh conflict must ensure interim
status for the disputed region, France’s OSCE Minsk Group co-chair
said on Friday.

Speaking during the 73rd Rose Roth seminar of the NATO Parliamentary
Assembly in Yerevan, Bernard Fassier did not elaborate on what the
"interim status" meant.

Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan earlier suggested
that the international community should start with legitimizing the
current status of Karabakh and acknowledge that the region is no
longer controlled by Azerbaijan.

A long-standing dispute over Nagorny Karabakh, a breakaway region
inside Azerbaijan with a predominantly ethnic Armenian population,
has been a sticking point in relations between the two South Caucasus
states.

A fragile ceasefire has been in place in the region since a brutal war
between the two countries over the disputed enclave in early 1990s,
which claimed lives of more than 30,000 people on both sides. Nagorny
Karabakh has since then remained under Armenian control.

Baku has fiercely opposed any decision on Karabakh that could be
interpreted as giving the region independence from Azerbaijan.

Despite the mediators in the dispute – the United States, Russia and
France – reporting some important progress after the Azerbaijani and
Armenian leaders met in Munich late last year, tensions remain high
as both ex-Soviet Caucasus states continue to trade allegations of
ceasefire violations.

Fassier said the Minsk Group co-chairs held six meetings between the
two countries’ presidents in 2009, and three more meetings were held
at the initiative of the Russian president.

"The Madrid principles are on the table and the Minsk Group co-chairing
countries adhere to the principles which is demonstrated by the
Meindorf declaration and the statement of the heads of the Minsk
Group co-chair states in L"Aquila", the French mediator said, adding
it was a good time to activate negotiations on the issue.

He also said any decision taken by the mediators should ensure the
security of Karabakh and the return of internally displaced persons.

The OSCE Madrid principles, adopted in November 2007, envisage a
stage-by-stage resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict that
should start with the gradual liberation of parts of Azerbaijan
bordering Karabakh that were partly or fully occupied by Karabakh
Armenian forces during the 1991-94 war. In return, Karabakh should
retain a corridor to Armenia and be able to determine its final status
in a future referendum.

In January, Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed a preamble to an agreement
on Nagorny Karabakh, revising and updating the Madrid principles.

However, in late February, Azerbaijan renewed threats of military
action to retake the disputed region over a lack of progress at talks
with Armenia.