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THE IMPERATIVE IS THE NKR PARTICIPATION IN THE NEGOTIATIONS
http://artsakhtert.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1598:-the-imperative-is-the-nkr-participation-in-the-negotiations&catid=3:all&Itemid=4
Wednesday, 29 October 2014 15:21
So, the October 27 meeting of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan
in Paris, which attracted the attention of public and expert circles,
has become part of history. For the last three months, it was the third
meeting between Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev, which confirms the
current activity of international mediators involved in the settlement
of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict.
Some competition seems to have started between the co-chair states
ofthe OSCE Minsk Group for the diplomatic initiative in the settlement
process. In August, the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, under
the mediation of the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, met in Sochi,
and in September, under the mediation of the U.S.
Secretary of State, John Kerry, - in Wales. And now, after the Paris
dialogue proposed by the President of France, the "full set" of
meetings organized by the co-chair states of the OSCE Minsk Group has
taken place. We can say that both the West and Russia have started
taking certain steps for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. We would like to believe that they do this not for
their geopolitical interests, but just for the final settlement
of thelong-standing problem, basing on the norms and principles of
international law and in accordance with the modern trends in the
development of the world order.
The Paris meeting, as expected, was not a breakthrough. In fact, it
could not become as such, due to the diametrically opposed positions
of the parties. However, judging by the comments by the officials of
Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as the OSCE mediators, the meeting
was successful. In particular, Armenia's Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandian called it constructive, useful, and sincere. In turn,
the U.S. Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick assessed the
meeting of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan as a positive
step. And we cannot but agree with this, as a dialogue at the highest
level, especially under the auspices of the mediator-states that play
a key role in the modern world, contributes to the reduce of tension
and stabilization of the situation in the conflict zone, which can be
only welcomed. Moreover, all the three mentioned meetings took place
against the background of sharp deterioration of the situation on the
contact-line caused by the armed incidents taken place in this summer,
the responsibility for which lies entirely on Azerbaijan.
>From this perspective, it is noteworthy that the parties emphasized
in Paris the importance of continuing the dialogue and the efforts on
confidence building for achieving progress in the peace negotiations.
According to Edward Nalbandian, the meeting participants discussed
numerous issues related to the Karabakh conflict settlement, as well
as confidence-building measures, which Francois Hollande suggested
back in May during his regional visit and which were approved also
by the co-chairs. It was emphasized that there is no alternative
to the peaceful settlement. In addition, an agreement was achieved
between the parties to continue the summits, as well as to exchange
information on thepersons gone missing in the conflict under the
auspices of the International Committee for the Red Cross. And yet,
we have to take the positive, fixed at the meeting, with cautious
optimism, as the President of Azerbaijan has repeatedly refused of
the agreements achieved and continued his policy of aggressivehatred
towards Armenians.
However, the progress achieved at the Paris summit, again, can only be
welcomed, but with one proviso - all this relates to the humanitarian
issues, without relating to the process of comprehensive settlement
of the conflict itself.Surely, the resolution of the noted issues
creates prerequisites and a favorablebackground for the negotiations,
but, nevertheless, the summits cannot replace pure negotiations. From
this perspective, attention is drawn to the proposal of the French
President made at the trilateral meeting in Paris. Stressing the
unacceptability of the status quo, Francois Hollande called upon
the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders to start the elaboration of a
comprehensive peace agreement and to prepare their populations for
peace for achieving any progress.
As for the status quo, it should be noted that views on the necessity
of changing it sounded at different levels before the President of
France. It is clear that if the settlement process is underway, then
the status quo should be changed as a result of the negotiations. The
matter is what is offered in return for this? You know the conflicting
parties completely differ in their vision of the settlement prospects.
If changing the status quo supposes international legal recognition
of the de facto independence of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, so
both Armenian parties to the conflict can only welcome it. But, as
you know, Azerbaijan interprets the change in the status quo purely
as application of its jurisdiction to Nagorno Karabakh and unilateral
return of Azerbaijani refugees.
Obviously, the settlement of the conflict on the conditions of
official Baku is completely unacceptable, because it is fraught with
a new war, which, as we'd like to believe, is realized also by the
mediators. Similarly, they realize the imperative of indispensable
participation of Nagorno Karabakh in the negotiations as the main and
the most suffered party to the conflict, which has beenrepeatedly
stated by official Stepanakert. This topical issue remains on the
political agenda of the NKR authorities. Hopefully, with the start
of real negotiations the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs will finally
implement in practice their repeated statements that the Karabakh
party is sure to be involved in themat a certain stage. Otherwise, the
so-called comprehensive peace agreement, thenecessity of elaboration
of which was noted by the President of France at the Paris meeting,
is likely to remain on the paper.
Leonid Martirossian
Editor-in-Chief of Azat Artsakh newspaper
http://artsakhtert.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1598:-the-imperative-is-the-nkr-participation-in-the-negotiations&catid=3:all&Itemid=4
Wednesday, 29 October 2014 15:21
So, the October 27 meeting of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan
in Paris, which attracted the attention of public and expert circles,
has become part of history. For the last three months, it was the third
meeting between Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev, which confirms the
current activity of international mediators involved in the settlement
of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict.
Some competition seems to have started between the co-chair states
ofthe OSCE Minsk Group for the diplomatic initiative in the settlement
process. In August, the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, under
the mediation of the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, met in Sochi,
and in September, under the mediation of the U.S.
Secretary of State, John Kerry, - in Wales. And now, after the Paris
dialogue proposed by the President of France, the "full set" of
meetings organized by the co-chair states of the OSCE Minsk Group has
taken place. We can say that both the West and Russia have started
taking certain steps for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. We would like to believe that they do this not for
their geopolitical interests, but just for the final settlement
of thelong-standing problem, basing on the norms and principles of
international law and in accordance with the modern trends in the
development of the world order.
The Paris meeting, as expected, was not a breakthrough. In fact, it
could not become as such, due to the diametrically opposed positions
of the parties. However, judging by the comments by the officials of
Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as the OSCE mediators, the meeting
was successful. In particular, Armenia's Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandian called it constructive, useful, and sincere. In turn,
the U.S. Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick assessed the
meeting of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan as a positive
step. And we cannot but agree with this, as a dialogue at the highest
level, especially under the auspices of the mediator-states that play
a key role in the modern world, contributes to the reduce of tension
and stabilization of the situation in the conflict zone, which can be
only welcomed. Moreover, all the three mentioned meetings took place
against the background of sharp deterioration of the situation on the
contact-line caused by the armed incidents taken place in this summer,
the responsibility for which lies entirely on Azerbaijan.
>From this perspective, it is noteworthy that the parties emphasized
in Paris the importance of continuing the dialogue and the efforts on
confidence building for achieving progress in the peace negotiations.
According to Edward Nalbandian, the meeting participants discussed
numerous issues related to the Karabakh conflict settlement, as well
as confidence-building measures, which Francois Hollande suggested
back in May during his regional visit and which were approved also
by the co-chairs. It was emphasized that there is no alternative
to the peaceful settlement. In addition, an agreement was achieved
between the parties to continue the summits, as well as to exchange
information on thepersons gone missing in the conflict under the
auspices of the International Committee for the Red Cross. And yet,
we have to take the positive, fixed at the meeting, with cautious
optimism, as the President of Azerbaijan has repeatedly refused of
the agreements achieved and continued his policy of aggressivehatred
towards Armenians.
However, the progress achieved at the Paris summit, again, can only be
welcomed, but with one proviso - all this relates to the humanitarian
issues, without relating to the process of comprehensive settlement
of the conflict itself.Surely, the resolution of the noted issues
creates prerequisites and a favorablebackground for the negotiations,
but, nevertheless, the summits cannot replace pure negotiations. From
this perspective, attention is drawn to the proposal of the French
President made at the trilateral meeting in Paris. Stressing the
unacceptability of the status quo, Francois Hollande called upon
the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders to start the elaboration of a
comprehensive peace agreement and to prepare their populations for
peace for achieving any progress.
As for the status quo, it should be noted that views on the necessity
of changing it sounded at different levels before the President of
France. It is clear that if the settlement process is underway, then
the status quo should be changed as a result of the negotiations. The
matter is what is offered in return for this? You know the conflicting
parties completely differ in their vision of the settlement prospects.
If changing the status quo supposes international legal recognition
of the de facto independence of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, so
both Armenian parties to the conflict can only welcome it. But, as
you know, Azerbaijan interprets the change in the status quo purely
as application of its jurisdiction to Nagorno Karabakh and unilateral
return of Azerbaijani refugees.
Obviously, the settlement of the conflict on the conditions of
official Baku is completely unacceptable, because it is fraught with
a new war, which, as we'd like to believe, is realized also by the
mediators. Similarly, they realize the imperative of indispensable
participation of Nagorno Karabakh in the negotiations as the main and
the most suffered party to the conflict, which has beenrepeatedly
stated by official Stepanakert. This topical issue remains on the
political agenda of the NKR authorities. Hopefully, with the start
of real negotiations the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs will finally
implement in practice their repeated statements that the Karabakh
party is sure to be involved in themat a certain stage. Otherwise, the
so-called comprehensive peace agreement, thenecessity of elaboration
of which was noted by the President of France at the Paris meeting,
is likely to remain on the paper.
Leonid Martirossian
Editor-in-Chief of Azat Artsakh newspaper