NKR PRESIDENT ARKADY GHUKASIAN MEETS WITH MATTHEW BRYZA, OSCE MG US CO-CHAIR
AZG Armenian Daily #144, 02/08/2006
NKR Issue
In the course of the Saturday press-conference Saturday
Nagorno-Karabakh President Arkady Ghoukassian stated that the key
topic of his meeting with OSCE MG US co-chair Matthew Bryza was the
involvement of NK in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace talks. Ghoukassian
said that all the mediators realize the necessity of involving NK in
the negotiating process. He said that he had informed Bryza of NK’s
position on the Nagorno-Karabakh problem and Bryza did not object.
"Our position is logical. Of course, it somewhat differs from what the
co-chairs have proposed but Bryza has made no serious objections to
it," Ghoukassian said. He said that without visiting NK the newly
appointed US co-chair would hardly get the full picture of the
problem. He said that he did not expect much from Bryza’s visit
as he came more to listen than to propose. Ghoukassian said that
the long pause in the co-chairs’ visits to the region was mostly
of technical nature. He said that he was always invited to Yerevan
whenever the co-chairs came but he believes that it is more correct to
hold such meetings in Stepanakert. "I think there is already a clear
understanding that the problem cannot be solved without Karabakh,"
Ghoukassian said. Concerning the proposals Ghoulassyan said that
one should not consider problems outside the general context: one
should not consider the problem of Azeri refugees without considering
the problem of Armenian ones, the problem of territories without
the problem of NK’s status and security. Asked if the mediators are
pressuring the sides, Ghoukassyan said that he has been in the peace
process since 1992 and has never seen any pressure on the mediators’
part.
By Kim Gabrielian, Stepanakert