‘Peace process cannot be endless’, Baku tells OSCE

First Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Vyatcheslav Trubnikov and co-chairs of the Minsk Group Nikolai Gribkov (Russia), Philip de Surmain (France) and Carey Cavanaugh (USA) paid another visit to the region last week to continue the search for a negotiated settlement to the Garabagh conflict.

On Thursday, the high-ranking dignitaries met with President Aliyev, Foreign Minister Guliyev and Defense Minister Abiyev.

In a meeting with General Abiyev, Mr. Cavanaugh stated that the conflict should be done away with only in peace. "We support the courageous steps taken by Presidents Aliyev and Kocharian toward this goal and hope that Azerbaijan would dedicate its effort to preserving peace", he said.

Mr. Gribkov told the Azeri Defense Minister that President Putin of Russia had discussed prospects of the Garabagh settlement with US President Bush in Ljublana and with French President Chirac in Moscow, and is going to raise the issue again during a G8 meeting in Genoa. "We must give the peace process a much needed boost and should not allow anything to undermine stability", he said.

Amb. Souremeyne reiterated the statements by his colleagues, saying that the status of neither war nor peace does not mean stability and the sooner a lasting peace is achieved the better for the parties to the conflict, especially for Azerbaijan, which has tremendous economic potential to materialize, he said.

Minister Abiyev indicated that it is first of all necessary to find the truth of the matter.

While speaking about peace, Armenia, a country which has occupied a portion of Azeri lands, wants to further secure the results of its aggression and dictates its terms to Azerbaijan as if it were a winner in the war. Azerbaijan cannot sacrifice the fates of more than one million people for the sake of 30,000-40,000 living in Garabagh, the minister said.

The conflict must be resolved within the framework of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and Upper Garabagh must be provided with a status of autonomy within Azerbaijan. "We are ready to ensure the safety and security of the Garabagh population", he said.

He then spoke of numerous cases of violation of the cease-fire regime by Armenia and voiced his concern about the ongoing militarization of Armenia. He added that the unaccounted for weaponry was being stationed in the occupied Azeri territories.

The minister went on to say that Armenia is still continuing its territorial claims and has established the "Society for joining Nakhchivan to Armenia".

"Peace process cannot be endless. Armenia must be demanded to unconditionally free the occupied land. Azerbaijan has already made a concession to Armenia by allowing a 20,000 square kilometer Armenian state to be formed within its boundaries, so no more concessions will be made. The world community must not support the aggressor state of Armenia, because the crimes Armenia has unleashed in the occupied Azeri soil are also the crimes against humanity", he said.

Committed to cease-fire

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs held a news briefing at the US embassy in Baku Thursday to sum up the current trip. The US co-chair Carey Cavanaugh said the co-chairs had witnessed the deplorable consequences of the war in the country.

He indicated that the co-chairs were concerned about the statements made by some 'irresponsible people' to the effect that military action may resume.

According to him, as a result of such statements the peace process remains stalled. Mr. Cavanaugh said the co-chairs had received President Aliyev's assurances that the cease-fire regime would not be shattered.

Saying that Presidents Bush, Putin and Chirac would focus on the Garabagh conflict during their upcoming meeting, the Russian co-chair Nikolay Gribkov said he could share only one thing with journalists - both Azeri and Armenian presidents have vowed to adhere to peace and cease-fire.

The diplomats declined to provide any information concerning other details of the negotiations, including the Paris agreement, explaining that the Middle East peace process collapsed shortly after the details of the conflict solution had been divulged. Touching upon the next meeting of the Azeri and Armenian presidents, the French negotiator Philippe de Souremeyne said what matters most is not the meetings per se, but the feasibility of a final breakthrough. The meeting is on the agenda, but its date has yet to be set, he said.

Frontline monitoring

Prior to arriving in Azerbaijan, the co-chairs traveled to Khankandi from Yerevan to hold talks with leaders of the self-proclaimed Upper Garabagh republic. Afterwards, the three took part in a frontline monitoring on the territory of Horadiz settlement of Fizuli.

The monitoring, carried out by the personal envoy of the OSCE chairman-in-office Andzei Kaspshik and his field assistants, was not marred with any irregularities.