MATTHEW BRYZA: "THE ISSUE OF HOLDING A REFERENDUM IN KARABAKH IN THE FUTURE IS A SUBJECT OF THE NEGOTIATION PROCESS"
Today.Az
olitics/49086.html
Nov 19 2008
Azerbaijan
"The issue of holding a referendum in Karabakh in the future, as well
as its mechanisms, organization, terms and participants are a subject
of the negotiation process", said OSCE MG co-chair Matthew Bryza in
his interview to Liberty radio station.
According to the US diplomat, the fact that the Moscow declaration is
undersigned by just one co-chairing country of the OSCE Minsk Group –
Russia, means that Russian President Dmitri Medvedev decided to stress
the influence of his country in the resolution of conflicts in the
South Caucasus.
Speaking of the resolution principles, Bryza noted that the co-chairs
do not single out any of these principles, therefore, the Moscow
declaration does not fix them directly. At the same time, the diplomat
noted that the search of balance between them is underway.
Asked whether he agrees that the Armenian President is under the US
pressure in the Karabakh issue, Matthew Bryza noted that this question
should be put to Armenians.
"As for the Armenian President, the United States recognize the
results of elections and recognize Serzh Sargsyan as a president. He
is leading the country and we must work with him. It is for people
to decide whether the documents, he signed, are appropriate for
them. I can only note that he is quite a principal and reasonable
negotiator. The same with President Aliyev: he will not agree to
any variant, inadmissible for the peoples of Armenia and Nagorno
Karabakh. He is a wise person and in this connection I do not have
concerns that he is under pressure", Bryza noted.
Commenting on the opinion of deputy US Secretary of state Daniel Fried
that the signing of an agreement on the Karabakh conflict may occur by
the end of this year, the co-chairman said that "this is possible". At
the same time, he noted that he does not expect similar things. "There
is no need to accelerate the negotiation process, I think", noted he.