DIFFERENCES ‘NARROWING’ IN KARABAKH TALKS, SAYS LAVROV
Asbarez
Feb 8th, 2010
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
MUNICH (Combined Sources)-Armenia and Azerbaijan are narrowing their
differences over a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict sought
by international mediators, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said
over the weekend, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported on Monday.
"We are trying to help Armenians and Azerbaijanis to reach a common
approach," the DPA news agency quoted him as saying at the Munich
Security Conference. "It’s obviously a very difficult issue, but
things are moving."
"The understanding is growing and the number of issues that must be
tackled by the top leaders is reducing and we are trying to help,"
Lavrov said.
Russia, which co-chairs the OSCE Minsk Group with the United States
and France, has stepped up its involvement in the Karabakh negotiating
process of late, with President Dmitry Medvedev hosting this year’s
first meeting of his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts near the
Russian city of Sochi late last month.
Lavrov said after those talks that President Serzh Sarkisian and
Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev have essentially agreed on a preamble to
the basic principles of a Karabakh settlement put forward by the
Minsk Group co-chairs. He said they also agreed to "prepare their
own concrete ideas and formulations" on the remaining sticking points.
Russia’s chief Karabakh negotiator, Yuri Merzlyakov, said in Sochi
that Baku and Yerevan will submit relevant proposals in the next two
weeks. Merzlyakov told the Azerbaijani APA news agency on Monday that
the mediators have yet to receive them.
The mediators announced earlier in January that they have developed an
"updated version" of the basic principles in an effort to facilitate
their acceptance by the parties. The refused to disclose the changes
made in the document.
In an interview with the Euronews TV channel aired last week, Aliyev
again asserted that the mediators’ peace proposals are "based on
restoration of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan." "Azerbaijan
will never agree to independence of Nagorno-Karabakh, or to any kind
of mechanisms or procedures which will eventually lead to secession,"
he said.
Armenia’s leaders insist that the proposed agreement does include
such a mechanism. They say one of the basic principles upholds the
Karabakh Armenians’ right to formalize the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s
independence in a future referendum. Officials in Yerevan have also
sought to cool talk of the signing of an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace
accord in the coming months.
Aliyev sounded more optimistic on that score. "I hope that what has
been agreed basically before and what we are planning to agree during
2010 will put an end to conflict and peace will come to the Caucasus,"
he said.
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Elkhan Polukhov, reiterated
Aliyev’s remarks in a press briefing on Monday. "Azerbaijan sees
prospect in negotiations," he said, adding, however, that any
acceptable resolution for Baku depends on "what extent the Minsk
Group co-chairs are active."
Azerbaijan and Turkey have, in recent weeks, stepped up their criticism
of the Minsk Group in an apparent play to pressure the troika into
pushing for a resolution of the Karabakh conflict favoring Baku’s
position.
Aliyev’s chief foreign policy aide, Novruz Mammadov, last week accused
Russia and the West of supporting Armenia in the conflict and thereby
delaying its peaceful resolution.
The Azerbaijani official’s latest remarks mirrored Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s strong criticism of the international
mediators voiced days earlier. Erdogan claimed that the Karabakh
conflict would have already been resolved had the U.S., Russia and
France "worked hard" enough. He faulted them for not putting sufficient
pressure on Armenia to end "the occupation of Azerbaijani territory."