DISAGREEMENT OF YEREVAN AND BAKU ON KARABAKH SETTLEMENT PRINCIPLES WOULD BE TRAGIC LOSS
PanARMENIAN.Net
30.06.2006 13:43 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "We have heard both sides say repeatedly that
they have never before been so close to an agreement. It would be
a tragically wasted opportunity for the two Presidents to let this
window of opportunity close in 2006 without even the basic principles
in place for a future peace agreement for Nagorno-Karabakh. As you
know, election cycles are approaching, first in Armenia and then in
Azerbaijan during 2007-2008," says the statement made by the OSCE
Minsk Group Co-chairs and submitted to the OSCE Permanent Council
in Vienna June 22. "We have seen before the negative effect that
national elections can have on negotiations, and we continue to
believe that now is the time for the two Presidents to summon the
political will to take a courageous step forward together toward
peace. Mr. Chairman, as Co-Chairs, we have reached the limits of our
creativity in the identification, formulation, and finalization of
these principles. We do not believe additional alternatives advanced
by the mediators through additional meetings with the sides will
produce a different result.
We hope that the Permanent Council will join us in urging the parties
to the conflict to reach an agreement as soon as possible based on
the core principles we have recommended. If the two sides are unable
to agree on those principles we have put forward, we believe it is
now contingent upon them to work together to reach an alternative
agreement that both find acceptable. We remain ready to assist. As
mediators, however, we cannot make the difficult decisions for the
parties. We think the parties would be well-served at this point by
allowing their publics to engage in a robust discussion of the many
viewpoints on these issues. We are confident that neither society wants
renewed conflict, and we urge the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to
work with their publics and to work with each other to formulate an
agreement on core principles that both find acceptable. Ultimately,
it is the two sides that will be held accountable by their peoples
and by the international community if their actions lead to war and
not peace," the statement says.