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KARABAKH SKEPTICAL ABOUT NEXT ARMENIAN-AZERI SUMMIT
Ruben Meloyan
http://www.armenialiberty.org/content/article/2074994.html
17.06.2010
Nagorno-Karabakh - Bako Sahakian, President elect of Nagorno-Karabakh,
talks to press in Stepanakert, 19Jul2007
The upcoming meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents will
not pave the way for the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
a spokesman for Karabakh President Bako Sahakian said on Thursday.
The official, Davit Babayan, said the conflict's resolution will remain
elusive as long as Karabakh's ethnic Armenian leadership is excluded
from direct Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations. He also stressed that
Russia can not single-handedly broker a peaceful settlement.
"Russia is showing the international community that it is able
to take the initiative in the Caucasus," Babayan told RFE/RL's
Armenian service from Stepanakert, commenting on Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev's plans to host fresh talks between his Armenian and
Azerbaijani counterparts in Saint-Petersburg this week.
"In order to have a breakthrough here, there has to be a restoration
of the proper negotiating format -- Armenia, Karabakh and Azerbaijan
-- and the involvement of other mediating sides, notably the United
States and France," he said. "As long as these preconditions are not
in place, I don't think there will be any breakthrough."
Despite regular visits to Stepanakert by the American, French and
Russian co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, the self-proclaimed
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) has not been directly involved
in Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks for over a decade. Azerbaijan
refuses any direct contacts with the Karabakh Armenians, saying that
the disputed territory is controlled by Armenia.
The mediators have repeatedly assured the authorities in Yerevan and
Stepanakert that the Karabakh Armenians will play a major role at
a later stage in the peace process. The NKR leaders regularly state
that no peace deal can be put into practice without their consent.
Babayan claimed that the planned trilateral meeting in Saint-Petersburg
will focus not so much on the Karabakh peace process as broader
"peace and stability in the region." He said the three leaders will
also discuss implications of Iran's deepening standoff with the
international community over its controversial nuclear program.
Officials in Baku, Moscow and Yerevan have not yet commented on their
expectations from what will be the first Armenian-Azerbaijani summit
in nearly five months.
From: A. Papazian
Ruben Meloyan
http://www.armenialiberty.org/content/article/2074994.html
17.06.2010
Nagorno-Karabakh - Bako Sahakian, President elect of Nagorno-Karabakh,
talks to press in Stepanakert, 19Jul2007
The upcoming meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents will
not pave the way for the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
a spokesman for Karabakh President Bako Sahakian said on Thursday.
The official, Davit Babayan, said the conflict's resolution will remain
elusive as long as Karabakh's ethnic Armenian leadership is excluded
from direct Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations. He also stressed that
Russia can not single-handedly broker a peaceful settlement.
"Russia is showing the international community that it is able
to take the initiative in the Caucasus," Babayan told RFE/RL's
Armenian service from Stepanakert, commenting on Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev's plans to host fresh talks between his Armenian and
Azerbaijani counterparts in Saint-Petersburg this week.
"In order to have a breakthrough here, there has to be a restoration
of the proper negotiating format -- Armenia, Karabakh and Azerbaijan
-- and the involvement of other mediating sides, notably the United
States and France," he said. "As long as these preconditions are not
in place, I don't think there will be any breakthrough."
Despite regular visits to Stepanakert by the American, French and
Russian co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, the self-proclaimed
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) has not been directly involved
in Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks for over a decade. Azerbaijan
refuses any direct contacts with the Karabakh Armenians, saying that
the disputed territory is controlled by Armenia.
The mediators have repeatedly assured the authorities in Yerevan and
Stepanakert that the Karabakh Armenians will play a major role at
a later stage in the peace process. The NKR leaders regularly state
that no peace deal can be put into practice without their consent.
Babayan claimed that the planned trilateral meeting in Saint-Petersburg
will focus not so much on the Karabakh peace process as broader
"peace and stability in the region." He said the three leaders will
also discuss implications of Iran's deepening standoff with the
international community over its controversial nuclear program.
Officials in Baku, Moscow and Yerevan have not yet commented on their
expectations from what will be the first Armenian-Azerbaijani summit
in nearly five months.
From: A. Papazian