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Panorama, Armenia
July 30 2010
We strongly advise and suggest that NATO PA refrains from addressing
Nagorno-Karabakh issue
Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia Hovik Abrahamyan sent a
letter to NATO Parliamentary Assembly President John Tanner. According
to the NA information department, the letter reads:
`Dear Mr. Tanner,
I am addressing you regarding a possible report on the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue to be prepared for the discussion at the NATO
Parliamentary Assembly. To be frank, I am surprised that such a step
might have been taken without proper consultations with members of the
Armenian Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
As known, currently the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process runs under the
mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs USA, France and Russia. It
is our strong conviction that given the confidentiality, specificity
and delicacy of the negotiations, the initiatives held in formats
other than the Minsk Group co-chairmanship, even with a good intent,
include a great danger of jeopardizing the negotiating process and
undermining the mediation efforts. Therefore, any initiative on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution requires prior consultations with
the Co-Chair States of the Minsk Group, having in view that the USA
and France are both NATO members.
The attempts of Azerbaijan to raise the Nagorno-Karabakh issue within
different international formats are aimed at advertising Azerbaijan's
own perception of the conflict resolution with disregard of the
entirety of principles proclaimed by the Co-Chairs as the basis for
the conflict resolution. It is worth mentioning that the Co-Chair
countries voted against the resolution proposed by Azerbaijan at the
UN General Assembly session in March, 2008, stating that the
`resolution selectively propagates only some of the principles [of the
conflict resolution] excluding others.'
Just a few days ago, exactly on July 17, Minister of Foreign Affairs
of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs
of France Bernard Kouchner, and Deputy Secretary of State of the
United States of America James Steinberg issued a statement in which
they reaffirmed the principles and elements of the conflict resolution
stated by the Presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group's Co-Chair countries
at the G8 Summit of June 26, 2010 in Muskoka. They once again stressed
the point that the mentioned principles and elements have been
conceived as an integrated whole and that any attempt to give
preferences over other principles would make it impossible to achieve
a balanced solution.
With due respect to an authoritative organization like the NATO
Parliamentary Assembly, we consider it our duty to remind that in
non-distant past a NATO PA report on Nagorno-Karabakh provoked
selective references, unsubstantiated interpretations, and wrong
speculations. I believe that the report in no way has contributed to
the creation of a favorable environment for the settlement process. I
do not see any reason why this new initiative may yield a different
result.
It was due to the clear understanding of the sensitivity of the issue
that Secretary General Rasmussen and other NATO high ranking officials
voiced their strong support for the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group on
different occasions and stressed that NATO did not have direct
involvement in the issue nor did it play a role of its own in the
mediation process.
Based on these concerns, Honorable Mr. President, I would like to
strongly advise and suggest that the NATO Parliamentary Assembly
refrains from addressing the issue on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. `
From: A. Papazian
July 30 2010
We strongly advise and suggest that NATO PA refrains from addressing
Nagorno-Karabakh issue
Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia Hovik Abrahamyan sent a
letter to NATO Parliamentary Assembly President John Tanner. According
to the NA information department, the letter reads:
`Dear Mr. Tanner,
I am addressing you regarding a possible report on the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue to be prepared for the discussion at the NATO
Parliamentary Assembly. To be frank, I am surprised that such a step
might have been taken without proper consultations with members of the
Armenian Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
As known, currently the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process runs under the
mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs USA, France and Russia. It
is our strong conviction that given the confidentiality, specificity
and delicacy of the negotiations, the initiatives held in formats
other than the Minsk Group co-chairmanship, even with a good intent,
include a great danger of jeopardizing the negotiating process and
undermining the mediation efforts. Therefore, any initiative on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution requires prior consultations with
the Co-Chair States of the Minsk Group, having in view that the USA
and France are both NATO members.
The attempts of Azerbaijan to raise the Nagorno-Karabakh issue within
different international formats are aimed at advertising Azerbaijan's
own perception of the conflict resolution with disregard of the
entirety of principles proclaimed by the Co-Chairs as the basis for
the conflict resolution. It is worth mentioning that the Co-Chair
countries voted against the resolution proposed by Azerbaijan at the
UN General Assembly session in March, 2008, stating that the
`resolution selectively propagates only some of the principles [of the
conflict resolution] excluding others.'
Just a few days ago, exactly on July 17, Minister of Foreign Affairs
of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs
of France Bernard Kouchner, and Deputy Secretary of State of the
United States of America James Steinberg issued a statement in which
they reaffirmed the principles and elements of the conflict resolution
stated by the Presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group's Co-Chair countries
at the G8 Summit of June 26, 2010 in Muskoka. They once again stressed
the point that the mentioned principles and elements have been
conceived as an integrated whole and that any attempt to give
preferences over other principles would make it impossible to achieve
a balanced solution.
With due respect to an authoritative organization like the NATO
Parliamentary Assembly, we consider it our duty to remind that in
non-distant past a NATO PA report on Nagorno-Karabakh provoked
selective references, unsubstantiated interpretations, and wrong
speculations. I believe that the report in no way has contributed to
the creation of a favorable environment for the settlement process. I
do not see any reason why this new initiative may yield a different
result.
It was due to the clear understanding of the sensitivity of the issue
that Secretary General Rasmussen and other NATO high ranking officials
voiced their strong support for the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group on
different occasions and stressed that NATO did not have direct
involvement in the issue nor did it play a role of its own in the
mediation process.
Based on these concerns, Honorable Mr. President, I would like to
strongly advise and suggest that the NATO Parliamentary Assembly
refrains from addressing the issue on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. `
From: A. Papazian