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ARMENIA SAYS AZERIS WANT TO CHANGE BASIC PRINCIPLES
asbarez
Thursday, June 9th, 2011
President Sarkisian met with the OSCE co-chairmen
YEREVAN-Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian told visiting
OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen that Azerbaijan wants to change the
basic principles ahead of this weekend's foreign ministers' summit
and an upcoming presidential meeting later this month in Kazan, Russia.
"Are the statements of Azerbaijani officials on the peacekeeping
forces or other issues evidence of Baku's willingness to agree to the
proposals without any changes and amendments, something the Co-Chairs
had called on the parties to do?" pondered Nalbandian.
The foreign minister was referring to statements made by his Azeri
counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov who, after meeting with the co-chairs in
Baku, said that international peacekeeping forces should be deployed
to Karabakh ahead until a the status of Karabakh is determined through
negotiations. The "Basic Principles" outline that the possibility
of deploying forces would come after the determination of the legal
status of Karabakh.
Nalbandian told France's Bernard Fassier, the US' Robert Bradtke,
Russia's Igor Popov and the Personal Representative of the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office, Andrzej Kasprzyk that "Armenia had given a
clear-cut answer to the latest version of the basic principles."
"It will be possible to achieve the expected progress if Azerbaijan
also gives its consent," added Nalbandian.
The latest version of the "Basic Principles" are the giving control of
the liberated territories surrounding the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic;
interim status for Karabakh and providing guarantees for security and
self-governance; a corridor linking Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh; future
determination of the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh through
"a legally binding expression of will"; the right of all internally
displaced persons and refugees to return to their former places of
residence; and international security guarantees that would include
a peacekeeping operation
The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen issued an announcement, after holding
a press conference in Karabakh.
"The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassadors Bernard Fassier
of France, Robert Bradtke of the United States, and Igor Popov of the
Russian Federation) traveled June 6-9 to Baku, Nagorno-Karabakh, and
Yerevan. Joined by Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, Personal Representative
of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, the Co-Chairs met separately with
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian President Serge Sargsian,
and the de facto authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh. In preparation for
the upcoming meeting of Presidents Medvedev, Aliyev, and Sargsian, the
Co-Chairs discussed with the sides steps to finalize and endorse the
Basic Principles as a framework for a comprehensive peace settlement,
as urged by Presidents Medvedev, Obama, and Sarkozy in their May 26
joint statement in Deauville, France," said the statement.
"On June 7, the Co-Chairs crossed the Line of Contact by foot in the
Agdam region. This was the third such crossing by the Co-Chairs in
ten months - as many as were completed in the previous sixteen years
combined - demonstrating that the sides can cooperate to implement and
observe fully the 1994 ceasefire. In that regard, the Co-Chairs called
upon the parties to avoid any provocative actions or statements that
might undermine the negotiating process during this critical period,"
concluded the statement.
According to Armenian Foreign Ministry press service, Nalbandian
will leave for Moscow to participate in the meeting of the foreign
ministers of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan on June 11.
asbarez
Thursday, June 9th, 2011
President Sarkisian met with the OSCE co-chairmen
YEREVAN-Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian told visiting
OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen that Azerbaijan wants to change the
basic principles ahead of this weekend's foreign ministers' summit
and an upcoming presidential meeting later this month in Kazan, Russia.
"Are the statements of Azerbaijani officials on the peacekeeping
forces or other issues evidence of Baku's willingness to agree to the
proposals without any changes and amendments, something the Co-Chairs
had called on the parties to do?" pondered Nalbandian.
The foreign minister was referring to statements made by his Azeri
counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov who, after meeting with the co-chairs in
Baku, said that international peacekeeping forces should be deployed
to Karabakh ahead until a the status of Karabakh is determined through
negotiations. The "Basic Principles" outline that the possibility
of deploying forces would come after the determination of the legal
status of Karabakh.
Nalbandian told France's Bernard Fassier, the US' Robert Bradtke,
Russia's Igor Popov and the Personal Representative of the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office, Andrzej Kasprzyk that "Armenia had given a
clear-cut answer to the latest version of the basic principles."
"It will be possible to achieve the expected progress if Azerbaijan
also gives its consent," added Nalbandian.
The latest version of the "Basic Principles" are the giving control of
the liberated territories surrounding the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic;
interim status for Karabakh and providing guarantees for security and
self-governance; a corridor linking Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh; future
determination of the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh through
"a legally binding expression of will"; the right of all internally
displaced persons and refugees to return to their former places of
residence; and international security guarantees that would include
a peacekeeping operation
The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen issued an announcement, after holding
a press conference in Karabakh.
"The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassadors Bernard Fassier
of France, Robert Bradtke of the United States, and Igor Popov of the
Russian Federation) traveled June 6-9 to Baku, Nagorno-Karabakh, and
Yerevan. Joined by Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, Personal Representative
of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, the Co-Chairs met separately with
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian President Serge Sargsian,
and the de facto authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh. In preparation for
the upcoming meeting of Presidents Medvedev, Aliyev, and Sargsian, the
Co-Chairs discussed with the sides steps to finalize and endorse the
Basic Principles as a framework for a comprehensive peace settlement,
as urged by Presidents Medvedev, Obama, and Sarkozy in their May 26
joint statement in Deauville, France," said the statement.
"On June 7, the Co-Chairs crossed the Line of Contact by foot in the
Agdam region. This was the third such crossing by the Co-Chairs in
ten months - as many as were completed in the previous sixteen years
combined - demonstrating that the sides can cooperate to implement and
observe fully the 1994 ceasefire. In that regard, the Co-Chairs called
upon the parties to avoid any provocative actions or statements that
might undermine the negotiating process during this critical period,"
concluded the statement.
According to Armenian Foreign Ministry press service, Nalbandian
will leave for Moscow to participate in the meeting of the foreign
ministers of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan on June 11.