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OSCE MEDIATOR SAYS REFERENDUM TO DECIDE KARABAKH STATUS
Mediamax
July 8 2009
Armenia
Yerevan, 8 July: The Russian co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group,
Yuriy Merzlyakov, stated in Yerevan today that "Nagornyy Karabakh
population will define its future by means of voting".
Mediamax reports that the Russian mediator said this, commenting on
the recent statement of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, according
to which separation of Nagornyy Karabakh from Azerbaijan is impossible.
"I perceive these words of the Azerbaijani president as a hope that
as a result of the voting, the Nagornyy Karabakh population will speak
for remaining within the composition of Azerbaijan," Merzlyakov stated.
The co-chairs stated that during last two days in Yerevan they had
three rounds of talks with the minister of foreign affairs of Armenia
and a meeting with President Serzh Sargsyan. The mediators noted that
these meetings were "very constructive". The co-chairs expressed
hope that their meetings in Baku will also be successful and that
the Azerbaijani authorities will confirm consent to organize talks
between the two countries' presidents in Moscow on 17 July.
French co-chairman Bernard Fassier stated that the meeting of the
Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents in Moscow will be the sixth one
over the past 13 months, and this is a bright evidence of the fact
that the negotiation process has stirred up. He expressed hope that
at the meeting in Moscow the sides will manage to fix progress,
marked at the meetings in Prague and in St Petersburg and open a
"new page in the process".
Answering the question about the connection between the processes of
Karabakh conflict settlement and normalization of Armenian-Turkish
relations, Bernard Fassier stated that "both processes are very complex
and there is hardly the need to combine those". At that, the diplomat
noted that "if in one of them there is significant progress marked,
the fact, of course, will have a positive effect on the other one".
Mediamax
July 8 2009
Armenia
Yerevan, 8 July: The Russian co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group,
Yuriy Merzlyakov, stated in Yerevan today that "Nagornyy Karabakh
population will define its future by means of voting".
Mediamax reports that the Russian mediator said this, commenting on
the recent statement of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, according
to which separation of Nagornyy Karabakh from Azerbaijan is impossible.
"I perceive these words of the Azerbaijani president as a hope that
as a result of the voting, the Nagornyy Karabakh population will speak
for remaining within the composition of Azerbaijan," Merzlyakov stated.
The co-chairs stated that during last two days in Yerevan they had
three rounds of talks with the minister of foreign affairs of Armenia
and a meeting with President Serzh Sargsyan. The mediators noted that
these meetings were "very constructive". The co-chairs expressed
hope that their meetings in Baku will also be successful and that
the Azerbaijani authorities will confirm consent to organize talks
between the two countries' presidents in Moscow on 17 July.
French co-chairman Bernard Fassier stated that the meeting of the
Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents in Moscow will be the sixth one
over the past 13 months, and this is a bright evidence of the fact
that the negotiation process has stirred up. He expressed hope that
at the meeting in Moscow the sides will manage to fix progress,
marked at the meetings in Prague and in St Petersburg and open a
"new page in the process".
Answering the question about the connection between the processes of
Karabakh conflict settlement and normalization of Armenian-Turkish
relations, Bernard Fassier stated that "both processes are very complex
and there is hardly the need to combine those". At that, the diplomat
noted that "if in one of them there is significant progress marked,
the fact, of course, will have a positive effect on the other one".