 | MG co-chairs offer to involve Garabagh communities |
The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, who visited Baku later last week, proposed to involve the Azeri and Armenian communities in Upper Garabagh, a disputed enclave of Azerbaijan, in the peace talks. By Saba Agayeva Azernews Staff Writer
The visit, which followed the OSCE acting chairman's trip of the region, was paid as part of the regional tour to hold a new round of talks for the resolution of the Garabagh conflict.
A new format was in focus in a meeting of the MG co-chairs, Rudolf Perina of the US, Philippe de Surmaen from France, Nikolay Gribkov of Russia and Russian deputy foreign minister, member of the delegation Vyacheslav Trubnikov, with Azeri President Aliyev.
It was the first time that the Azeri President Aliyev had held a tet-a-tet meeting with the OSCE negotiators behind closed doors, as even the President’s immediate surroundings were not present.
Commenting on the proposed new format for the negotiations, the Azeri President said that "the OSCE Minsk Group and the co-chairs in the present format are the most sophisticated authority".
Contrary to expectations, the co-chairs had no new proposals to settle the Garabagh conflict.
On their part the co-chairs said they had had nothing to revolutionize the course of the negotiations, but they were aspirant to achieve a breakthrough in the peace process. According to Mr. Trubnikov, the negotiators may have different visions of solution and Azerbaijan shouldn't assess it as pressure.
Occasional meetings of the Azerbaijan and Armenian Presidents handicap the talks and the solution to the conflict, the Russian negotiators indicated.
"We want to help resolve the row, but understand that the Presidents Aliyev and Kocharian are largely responsible to their nations, which are sick and tired of waiting".
According to the US co-chair, "it is high time the Garabagh dispute was resolved".
On his part, President Aliyev commended the intensification of the Minsk Group activities. "The Official Baku believed in the soonest resolution of the conflict when the Minsk Group was being set up 10 years ago. But, there hasn't been any progress so far", he regretted.
Summing up
In a conference on the outcomes of the Baku talks, Russian diplomat V. Trubnikov explained the need for an expanded format of the talks with the fact that the Azeri and Armenian Presidents meet very seldom, while the negotiators don't have enough materials to work. In his words, the Presidents should appoint their proxies to speed up the negotiations.
The co-chairs said they hadn't made any proposals conflicting with the national interests of the two nations, saying that only the two Presidents could make any border changes. The negotiators said they recognize Azerbaijan's territorial integrity.
Asked if the co-chairs are pressed to expedite the solution by the upcoming presidential elections in Armenia and Azerbaijan, V. Trubnikov said that "both incumbent and future Presidents should know that great responsibility lies on them. So, the co-chairs don't have to hurry"
R. Perina said they had proposed reasonable compromises to the Presidents.
Regret
In a meeting with the visiting OSCE MG co-chairs on Friday, Azeri foreign minister Vilayat Guliyev voiced his vehement regret over the lack of any progress in the activities of the OSCE, an authority responsible for seeking solution to the Garabagh conflict.
The international community, as well as the OSCE, is pressing Azerbaijan for more compromises than Armenia, the foreign minister said. In his words, the MG co-chairs don’t offer any compromises, but try to help find common grounds.
He appreciated the fact that the visit followed the OSCE acting chairman's trip of the region.
In their turn, the negotiators pointed out the significance of their mission, saying they would use all means to settle the dispute, the MFA said Saturday.
Unlike his foreign minister, President Aliyev was more optimistic. Media suggest that the President doesn’t oppose the expanded format of the negotiations and aspires to have the conflict resolved as soon as possible, something said to be his natural desire to break the deadlock before the presidential elections in 2003.
Following the visit to Baku, the co-chairs spent a few hours in Upper Garabagh Sunday to talk over the settlement of the conflict with the separatist leader Arkadiy Gukasian.
The MG French co-chair told journalists afterwards that the meeting had been ‘useful’.
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Issue No.N 10 (244), 2002
Aliyev's Iranian visit still on agendaOSCE chairman vows new proposals for Garabagh solutionMG co-chairs offer to involve Garabagh communitiesOpposition slams OSCE offerUS Air Forces College delegation on familiarization visitNationBusinessOil & gas news
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