Interfax, Russia
April 30 2010
Idea to make Turkey member of OSCE Minsk Group unfeasible – Russian diplomat
MOSCOW April 30
The authorities in Moscow doubt that Turkey could now be allowed to
join the OSCE Minsk Group, which has been working to find a political
solution to the conflict over Nagorno- Karabakh.
"At least all sides in the conflict should voice their agreement in
order to be able to start practical talks on this issue. Bearing in
mind the fact that the ratification of the protocol on the
normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations has been suspended, we can
hardly expect to receive this consent," Russian Foreign Ministry
spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said at a press briefing in Moscow on
Friday.
Azerbaijan is demanding that Turkey be included in the OSCE Minsk Group.
However, Russia, as one of the group’s chair countries, has not
received any official proposals on this issue, Nesterenko said.
Commenting on Iran’s offer to become a mediator in the Nagorno-
Karabakh peace process, the Russian diplomat said that "as far as we
know, Iran’s proposal mainly concerns the possibility of holding a
trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Armenia and
Iran on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement process."
"Of course, we have no objections to such a meeting," he said.
If such a meeting takes place, it will be necessary to wait for its
concrete results, "only after which we will be able to speak about
Iran’s possible role as a mediator," Nesterenko said.