THE OSCE GROUP FOR NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT DISAPPOINTED THE AZERBAIJANIS
by Svetlana Gamova, Sohbet Mamedov
DEFENSE and SECURITY
March 19, 2008 Wednesday
Russia
DETERMINED TO HAVE MOSCOW CHANGE ITS STAND ON KARABAKH, BAKU IMPLIES
THAT AZERBAIJANI-RUSSIAN RELATIONS MAY BE REVISED; Azerbaijan is
disappointed by the stand of the OSCE Minsk Group on the UN General
Assembly resolution and suspects foul play on the part of Moscow,
Paris, and Washington.
The UN hearings on "the occupied Azerbaijani territories" stirred
all of Baku. Branding the UN resolution as triumph of the Azerbaijani
democracy, Baku nevertheless wondered why the OSCE Minsk Group (Russia,
France, and the United States designated to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict) wouldn’t second the document. A spokesman for the Azerbaijani
Foreign Ministry even said that Baku might choose to revise relations
with these countries.
Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister, Araz Azimov, expressed
bewilderment that Russia, France, and the United States voted against
the UN resolution. These three countries are co-chairs in the OSCE
Minsk Group, a structure set up to facilitate settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Azimov said Azerbaijan might decide to
revise relations with Russia and some other UN countries that had voted
against the resolution demanding the withdrawal of Armenian regular
army from Karabakh. Azimov alleviated the gravity of his own words,
however, by saying that "We believe that an important document, valid
from the legal and political standpoint, has been adopted." According
to the diplomat, the voting shouldn’t upset the Azerbaijanis merely
because Russia, the United States, and France had voted against.
By and large, Baku welcomed the adoption of the UN General
Assembly Resolution, "The Situation in the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan". This document insists on an instantaneous, complete,
and unconditional withdrawal of all Armenian forces from the occupied
territories of Azerbaijan. The document confirmed the right of the
population driven from the occupied territories to return to their
homes. It also recognized the necessity of normal, safe, and equal
living conditions for the Armenian and Azerbaijani communities of
the Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
"As for the position of the OSCE Minsk Group, they are clearly
out to demonstrate that they do not have anything to do with the
decisions made by international organizations including the UN,"
political scientist Fikret Sadykhov said. According to Sadykhov, these
countries view themselves as instrumental players and emphasize their
willingness to operate only within the framework of the OSCE mandate.
The Azerbaijani general public in the meantime is clearly perplexed.
Governments of the countries running the OSCE Minsk Group make a
lot of references to territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. When it
came down to adoption of an actual document, however, these countries
reneged on the principles they themselves had pledged to uphold. Most
Azerbaijanis are convinced that either Moscow, Paris, and Washington
are insincere, or they want the conflict put on hold.