OSCE Minsk Group co-chairman calls for Azeri concessions
Ekspress, Baku
6 Jan 05
The Russian co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, a team of
international mediators to resolve the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, has
called on Azerbaijan to make concessions at the forthcoming talks in
order to reach a settlement of the conflict. In an interview with the
Azerbaijani daily Ekspress, Yuriy Merzlyakov described the Prague
talks as “decisive” and said: “Armenia has agreed to some
concessions. Now, it is Azerbaijan’s turn”. The following is the text
of Alakbar Raufoglu report by Azerbaijani newspaper Ekspress on 6
January headlined “‘Prague recipe in the Karabakh settlement'” and
subheaded “Or why the Armenians have agreed to a ‘stage-by-stage
solution plan'”; subheadings are as published:
“The Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers discuss at talks
issues pertaining to a staged solution to the Karabakh conflict,” the
Russian co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, Yuriy Merzlyakov, said
yesterday, commenting on the latest statements by the Azerbaijani
leadership on the Prague process in an exclusive interview with
Ekspress. He noted that Armenia has already agreed to a stage-by-stage
solution [principle]. “Now we have to work out certain details.”
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has told a recent meeting of the
country’s Security Council that a new stage has started in the
Karabakh settlement. The head of state said that the Prague process
envisages a stage-by-stage solution to the conflict and the
discussions are proceeding in a way that is favourable to Azerbaijan.
“We do not rule out agreement on some options proposed by Baku. But
for this purpose mutual steps should be taken, desire should be
demonstrated and coordinated,” Merzlyakov said. He described the
forthcoming Prague talks as “a decisive moment”.
Big talks due next week
“The Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers are due to have
important talks next week. The dialogue can be continued towards a
final end should there be any specific results in Prague,” the Russian
co-chairman stressed.
He said the meeting of the ministers “will cast some light on many
questions about the evaluation of the situation, specific solution
proposals and prospects of holding more talks: Armenia has agreed to
some concessions. Now, it is Azerbaijan’s turn”.
Besides, the activity of a fact-finding group that will be sent to the
region of the conflict on the initiative of the OSCE on 25 January
will also be in focus in Prague. “We attach great importance to this
mission. The fact-finders may clarify many points that affect the
course of the talks and eliminate complications.”
New stage?
“The Prague meeting on the issues discussed in 2004 will be continued.
It is still too early to talk about specific results. Certain elements
will be discussed within the framework of this process,” Azerbaijani
Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov told Ekspress.
He said that “Azerbaijan had more success” in the negotiations in
2004, as Baku managed to familiarize the international community with
its position on Nagornyy Karabakh. “Our primary goal is to have the
territories liberated. Now, the Azerbaijani government should carry on
its efforts in the peace process in this direction.”
Besides Armenia’s attitude to the latest talks and specific solution
options, the Prague meeting will discuss the illegitimate settlement
policy being pursued in the occupied territories, Azimov said. The
parties will also review the “details” of the fact-finding group’s
visit to the region late in January. The mission will prepare a
special report after inspecting the occupied territories. “I hope that
the new stage of the Prague process will be more active,” he said.
Touching on the details of the talks, the deputy foreign minister said
that “the interests and positions of the parties should be
distinguished”. “It is possible to make very sensitive, complicated
and principled decisions only in normal and objective conditions which
will be created after attempts to settle the conflict are stepped up
and the consequences [of the conflict] and results are removed.”
He said that Baku abides its position on territorial
integrity. Commenting on the reports that Armenia has agreed to the
idea of a stage-by-stage solution, Azimov said that Yerevan’s position
has not changed in principle but “there is desire for rapprochement”.
Karabakh’s ethnic Armenians
[Armenian] Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan held a one-to-one meeting
with the “so-called head of the foreign ministry” of the “Nagornyy
Karabakh Republic”, Arman Malikyan, in Yerevan yesterday. Official
reports say the two discussed the details of the Prague talks and the
possible participation of the separatists in the peace process.
Oskanyan told Malikyan that the position of Karabakh’s ethnic
Armenians would be taken into account in the discussions between the
foreign ministers.
“We now have a favourable situation in the conflict. Armenia must make
use of this opportunity to familiarize the international community
with the essence of the conflict and have the problem solved in line
with the principle of self-determination of the people of Nagornyy
Karabakh.”
The meeting also discussed priorities of Armenia’s Karabakh policies
next year.
“Prague recipe”
One may come to a conclusion from the above mentioned official
statements that a specific solution “recipe” will be discussed in the
forthcoming round of the Prague talks. Naturally, it is difficult to
predict the effect of this situation on the settlement process. In any
case, it is not yet clear what the ministers “bargain” on.
“The statements made in the run-up to and before the Prague meetings
allow us to conclude that the co-chairmen have produced a new
settlement recipe. Although it envisages a stage-by-stage solution,
there are some dangerous tendencies,” the former [Azerbaijani] foreign
minister, Tofiq Zulfuqarov, told Ekspress yesterday.
The Armenians aim to include certain items in the proposals which will
allow for a stage-by-stage solution, he said. At the talks Yerevan
calls for the prior resolution of issues such as the status of
Nagornyy Karabakh, a referendum among the Armenian community and other
legal issues.
“The main discussions and problems are related to it at this stage.
Therefore, the co-chairmen are now more inclined to a stage-by-stage
solution,” Zulfuqarov said. Baku should hold the “UN card” in order to
take advantage of the settlement process, he noted. One can only
expect the “result to continue the discussions” from the Prague
talks. Specific progress in the resolution of the problem depends on
international pressure on Armenia. US President George Bush is
expected to announce his country’s foreign policy priorities soon,
Zulfuqarov stressed. “If the Karabakh issue is mentioned there, the
Minsk Group co-chairmen will deal with the issue more seriously.”
Former state advisor Vafa Quluzada also believes that the fate of the
Prague talks depends not on the parties to the conflict, but on the
co-chairmen.
“The main dialogue is now between the USA and Russia. If the USA
manages to explain the existing realities to Moscow and Paris, there
will be no problems. We should know that the USA holds the key to the
problem and it will be used soon. The Prague talks and any talk of
recipes just aim at diverting the attention”.