PACE RAPPORTEUR’S REPORT ON KARABAKH CONFLICT MAY HARM PEACE PROCESS- ARMENIAN FM SAYS
YEREVAN, March 18. / ARKA /. A report on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
Robert Walter, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
(PACE) rapporteur is going to prepare may harm the negotiation
process, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian told a joint
news conference in Yerevan with visiting EU Commissioner for European
Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn.
“Our approach is well known; it is necessary to refrain from steps
that could harm the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs for
the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict”, said Nalbandian
in comments on Walter’s fact-finding visit to Baku on March 12-13.
Nalbandian said the parties must refrain from creating new structures,
formats or working groups (for the settlement of the conflict),
which could damage the mission of the OSCE Minsk Group.
Nalbandian said this position is shared also by the co-chairs
themselves, which they have repeatedly voiced.
He said serious concerns arise when a rapporteur is thanked by the
head of Azerbaijan for supporting its position.
“We need to be very careful in this delicate process in order not to
harm it, as the co-chairs are doing everything to have the conflict
resolved by peaceful means,” said Nalbandian.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted into armed clashes after the
collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s as the predominantly
Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan sought to secede from
Azerbaijan and declared its independence backed by succeeding
referendum. A truce was brokered by Russia in 1994, although no
permanent peace agreement has been signed.
Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh and several adjacent regions have been
under the control of Armenian forces of Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh
is the longest-running post-Soviet era conflict and has continued
to simmer despite the relative peace of the past two decades, with
snipers causing tens of deaths a year. – 0-
From: A. Papazian