Tweet
OSCE SECRETARY-GENERAL: TURKEY COULD PLAY A ROLE IN KARABAKH CONFLICT
Today's Zaman
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-261659-osce-secretary-general-turkey-could-play-a-role-in-karabakh-conflict.html
Nov 1 2011
Turkey
The newly elected secretary-general of the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said on Tuesday that Turkey could
play an important role in the decades-long conflict in the disputed
area of Nagorno-Karabakh.
OSCE Secretary-General Lamberto Zannier, in an exclusive interview
with Today's Zaman during the sixth trilateral summit between Turkey,
Afghanistan and Pakistan, said: "Turkey is an important player in
the region. It has a political contribution to offer." In the early
1990s, Nagorno-Karabakh (predominantly populated by ethnic Armenians)
and seven adjacent regions (without any Armenian populations), which
were an integral part of Azerbaijan, became occupied by neighboring
country Armenia.
The historic conflict is especially important to Turkey in its
relations with neighbors Azerbaijan and Armenia. The current stalemate
is nothing new -- the OSCE Minsk Group has been working to facilitate
negotiations since 1994 but to no avail. "I am stating a fact -- it
[progress] is not happening. Something is missing," said Zannier.
According to Zannier, Turkey's involvement need not be an official
one. "I am not talking about a formal role in the negotiations,
but in real terms. Turkey is bordering both countries involved in
the conflict," he said.
Zannier, emphasizing the importance of dialogue in solving any
conflict, ventured, "My very personal view is that Turkey needs to
create conditions to promote dialogue on both sides."
But how Turkey goes about this specifically is "Turkey's call,"
Zannier added. "I am not saying we have a monopoly, but why shouldn't
it be the OSCE? It is a regional organization that deals with security
issues. There is a debate that we should move the issues somewhere
else but I am not convinced that moving it elsewhere would solve the
problem. There is nothing wrong with the organization dealing with
the problem. The problem is the substance of the issue," he said in
response to criticisms of the OSCE's handling of the conflict.
While the OSCE is doing the best it can, Zannier said it is up to the
parties involved in the conflict to step up to the plate. Zannier
stressed there must be political will on behalf of the parties to
end the historic conflict. "What I said this morning was there is a
lot of focus on the mechanism, but there is also an issue of whether
the parties are ready to make a deal," he said.
While Zannier said that the mechanism could perhaps be improved,
he also emphasized that in the end the power lies with the member
countries. "You can lead a horse to water but you cannot force
the horse to drink. It is a bit the same. We are trying to create
the necessary conditions in the meantime. We are trying to manage
the situation on the ground, but the situation becomes problematic
in security terms," he said. The next step, according to the OSCE
secretary general, is ensuring the problem does not escalate further.
"[In general,] if we cannot line up all of the conditions and solve
the conflict, then the next best thing we can do is manage the problem
so it does not grow worse. So that is our next step. It is up to
everyone to keep making efforts from different angles," he stressed.
Today's Zaman
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-261659-osce-secretary-general-turkey-could-play-a-role-in-karabakh-conflict.html
Nov 1 2011
Turkey
The newly elected secretary-general of the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said on Tuesday that Turkey could
play an important role in the decades-long conflict in the disputed
area of Nagorno-Karabakh.
OSCE Secretary-General Lamberto Zannier, in an exclusive interview
with Today's Zaman during the sixth trilateral summit between Turkey,
Afghanistan and Pakistan, said: "Turkey is an important player in
the region. It has a political contribution to offer." In the early
1990s, Nagorno-Karabakh (predominantly populated by ethnic Armenians)
and seven adjacent regions (without any Armenian populations), which
were an integral part of Azerbaijan, became occupied by neighboring
country Armenia.
The historic conflict is especially important to Turkey in its
relations with neighbors Azerbaijan and Armenia. The current stalemate
is nothing new -- the OSCE Minsk Group has been working to facilitate
negotiations since 1994 but to no avail. "I am stating a fact -- it
[progress] is not happening. Something is missing," said Zannier.
According to Zannier, Turkey's involvement need not be an official
one. "I am not talking about a formal role in the negotiations,
but in real terms. Turkey is bordering both countries involved in
the conflict," he said.
Zannier, emphasizing the importance of dialogue in solving any
conflict, ventured, "My very personal view is that Turkey needs to
create conditions to promote dialogue on both sides."
But how Turkey goes about this specifically is "Turkey's call,"
Zannier added. "I am not saying we have a monopoly, but why shouldn't
it be the OSCE? It is a regional organization that deals with security
issues. There is a debate that we should move the issues somewhere
else but I am not convinced that moving it elsewhere would solve the
problem. There is nothing wrong with the organization dealing with
the problem. The problem is the substance of the issue," he said in
response to criticisms of the OSCE's handling of the conflict.
While the OSCE is doing the best it can, Zannier said it is up to the
parties involved in the conflict to step up to the plate. Zannier
stressed there must be political will on behalf of the parties to
end the historic conflict. "What I said this morning was there is a
lot of focus on the mechanism, but there is also an issue of whether
the parties are ready to make a deal," he said.
While Zannier said that the mechanism could perhaps be improved,
he also emphasized that in the end the power lies with the member
countries. "You can lead a horse to water but you cannot force
the horse to drink. It is a bit the same. We are trying to create
the necessary conditions in the meantime. We are trying to manage
the situation on the ground, but the situation becomes problematic
in security terms," he said. The next step, according to the OSCE
secretary general, is ensuring the problem does not escalate further.
"[In general,] if we cannot line up all of the conditions and solve
the conflict, then the next best thing we can do is manage the problem
so it does not grow worse. So that is our next step. It is up to
everyone to keep making efforts from different angles," he stressed.