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NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS?: EXPERTS EXPECT ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN TO VOICE NEW OSCE PROPOSALS SOON
By Naira Hayrumyan
ArmeniaNow
20.06.12 | 12:58
Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group and the Foreign Ministers of Armenia
and Azerbaijan
Lack of agreement or a public statement following the latest meeting
of the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Paris does not
mean that no new proposals on Karabakh were advanced or that the sides
rejected them. Experts think that the proposals that were announced
during the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier
this month, were, nevertheless, presented to the parties and they
have been given time to think over them. Next week, the OSCE Minsk
Group co-chairs are due to visit the region again, and the parties
are most likely to present their positions then.
The statement of the cochairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group does not
reflect the topics being discussed, said head of the Armenian
delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
(PACE), MP from the ruling Republican Party David Harutyunyan. "I
am sure that there were far more extensive and in-depth discussions,
and this is probably the reason for the lack of clearer commentaries,"
said Harutyunyan.
The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Edward Nalbandyan and
Elmar Mammadyarov, held a meeting in the French capital of Paris on
June 18, followed by what has already become a standard statement by
the co-chairs, expressing their deep concern over the recent incidents
along the front lines and the need to respect the 1994 ceasefire.
The same day the presidents of the United States, France and Russia
issued a statement from the G20 summit in Mexico, urging the presidents
of Armenia and Azerbaijan to accelerate the achievement of agreement
on the basic principles of Karabakh conflict settlement and not to
use military force.
"Military force will not resolve the conflict and would only prolong
the suffering and hardships endured by the peoples of the region for
too long. Only a peaceful, negotiated settlement can allow the entire
region to move beyond the status quo toward a secure and prosperous
future," the leaders of the three Minsk Group co-chair countries said
in their joint statement.
As regards what particular proposals have been set forth to the
sides, there is an opinion that it could be a proposal to conclude
a new truce and partly open up the communications without a final
settlement. Armenia has already advocated such an approach, but
Azerbaijan has put forward a condition - the withdrawal of Armenian
troops from a number of areas.
The details of the negotiations, of course, are not known, but the lack
of frustration and negative reactions of the international community
after the Paris meeting shows that the parties have not rejected the
proposals out of hand, but asked for time out to think over them and
set their own conditions.
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan has already made a
statement, noting that Armenia is ready to work with the co-chairmen
towards an exclusively peaceful settlement of the conflict. "As the
Co-Chair countries, we have many times called for respecting the
ceasefire agreement of May 1994 and abstaining from hostile rhetoric
that increases tension. Unlike Armenia, Azerbaijan has rejected and
continues to reject the Co-Chair countries' proposals to consolidate
the ceasefire... Azerbaijan not only is rejecting those proposals,
but is also flagrantly violating the ceasefire and continuously
masterminding provocations," Nalbandyan said in his comments on the
Los Cabos statement on Nagorno-Karabakh by Presidents Barack Obama,
Francois Hollande and Vladimir Putin.
The position of Azerbaijan on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, meanwhile,
remains unchanged: "In the first place, the Armenian armed forces
must be withdrawn from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan,"
stated Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev.
In its turn, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic reported that a conscript was killed in the conflict zone
on June 18, blaming the Azerbaijani armed forces for the killing.
"This is another provocation on the part of Azerbaijan that is an
open challenge to the OSCE, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries,
a boycott of the previous commitments and agreements. We deem that the
OSCE should pass from non-address statements to rigid assessments and
sanctions against Azerbaijan for the latter's militaristic policies,
for its obstructing a peaceful settlement, inciting hatred and
unleashing a new war in the region," the statement said.
From: Baghdasarian
By Naira Hayrumyan
ArmeniaNow
20.06.12 | 12:58
Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group and the Foreign Ministers of Armenia
and Azerbaijan
Lack of agreement or a public statement following the latest meeting
of the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Paris does not
mean that no new proposals on Karabakh were advanced or that the sides
rejected them. Experts think that the proposals that were announced
during the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier
this month, were, nevertheless, presented to the parties and they
have been given time to think over them. Next week, the OSCE Minsk
Group co-chairs are due to visit the region again, and the parties
are most likely to present their positions then.
The statement of the cochairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group does not
reflect the topics being discussed, said head of the Armenian
delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
(PACE), MP from the ruling Republican Party David Harutyunyan. "I
am sure that there were far more extensive and in-depth discussions,
and this is probably the reason for the lack of clearer commentaries,"
said Harutyunyan.
The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Edward Nalbandyan and
Elmar Mammadyarov, held a meeting in the French capital of Paris on
June 18, followed by what has already become a standard statement by
the co-chairs, expressing their deep concern over the recent incidents
along the front lines and the need to respect the 1994 ceasefire.
The same day the presidents of the United States, France and Russia
issued a statement from the G20 summit in Mexico, urging the presidents
of Armenia and Azerbaijan to accelerate the achievement of agreement
on the basic principles of Karabakh conflict settlement and not to
use military force.
"Military force will not resolve the conflict and would only prolong
the suffering and hardships endured by the peoples of the region for
too long. Only a peaceful, negotiated settlement can allow the entire
region to move beyond the status quo toward a secure and prosperous
future," the leaders of the three Minsk Group co-chair countries said
in their joint statement.
As regards what particular proposals have been set forth to the
sides, there is an opinion that it could be a proposal to conclude
a new truce and partly open up the communications without a final
settlement. Armenia has already advocated such an approach, but
Azerbaijan has put forward a condition - the withdrawal of Armenian
troops from a number of areas.
The details of the negotiations, of course, are not known, but the lack
of frustration and negative reactions of the international community
after the Paris meeting shows that the parties have not rejected the
proposals out of hand, but asked for time out to think over them and
set their own conditions.
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan has already made a
statement, noting that Armenia is ready to work with the co-chairmen
towards an exclusively peaceful settlement of the conflict. "As the
Co-Chair countries, we have many times called for respecting the
ceasefire agreement of May 1994 and abstaining from hostile rhetoric
that increases tension. Unlike Armenia, Azerbaijan has rejected and
continues to reject the Co-Chair countries' proposals to consolidate
the ceasefire... Azerbaijan not only is rejecting those proposals,
but is also flagrantly violating the ceasefire and continuously
masterminding provocations," Nalbandyan said in his comments on the
Los Cabos statement on Nagorno-Karabakh by Presidents Barack Obama,
Francois Hollande and Vladimir Putin.
The position of Azerbaijan on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, meanwhile,
remains unchanged: "In the first place, the Armenian armed forces
must be withdrawn from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan,"
stated Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev.
In its turn, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic reported that a conscript was killed in the conflict zone
on June 18, blaming the Azerbaijani armed forces for the killing.
"This is another provocation on the part of Azerbaijan that is an
open challenge to the OSCE, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries,
a boycott of the previous commitments and agreements. We deem that the
OSCE should pass from non-address statements to rigid assessments and
sanctions against Azerbaijan for the latter's militaristic policies,
for its obstructing a peaceful settlement, inciting hatred and
unleashing a new war in the region," the statement said.
From: Baghdasarian