Russian mediator denies Armenia pursues settlement policy in Karabakh – TV
Lider TV, Baku
24 Mar 05
[Presenter] The so-called leaders of Nagornyy Karabakh have told the
co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group that they view the settlement
of Armenians in Lacin [district in western Azerbaijan connecting
Armenia and Nagornyy Karabakh] as normal and create conditions for
this settlement. The Russian co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, Yuriy
Merzlyakov, who knew about this before the OSCE sent its fact-finding
mission to the region, has made this statement now. Merzlyakov also
said that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen are not expected to visit
the region soon.
[Correspondent] Before the OSCE fact-finding mission started examining
reports on the illegal settlement of Armenians on the occupied lands
of Azerbaijan, the so-called leaders of Nagornyy Karabakh told the
OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen that they consider the settlement of
Armenians in Lacin to be acceptable and think that it is normal to
create conditions for that, Yuriy Merzlyakov said.
Merzlyakov also said that the mission has not established that the
settlement of Armenians is the result of a purposeful policy of the
Armenian government. But there are cases when the so-called leadership
of Nagornyy Karabakh facilitated the settlement of Armenians on
those territories. It is noteworthy that the Russian co-chair found
it difficult to establish any link between the Armenian government
and the leadership of the self-styled state in this issue.
The issue of illegal settlement of Armenians cannot be resolved as
long as Azerbaijani territories are under occupation. The conflict
should be resolved soon. Saying that those territories are under not
Azerbaijani but Armenian control, Merzlyakov noted that it will be
simply impossible to evict Armenians settled in Nagornyy Karabakh
before Armenian military units withdraw from those territories.
The Russian co-chairman said that frequent violations of the
cease-fire on the front line only disrupt the negotiation process.
Merzlyakov also said that preparations are under way for the next
round of talks between the conflicting parties. The co-chairmen are
laying the groundwork for the next meeting of the Azerbaijani and
Armenian foreign ministers, Elmar Mammadyarov and Vardan Oskanyan,
he said. This meeting is to take place shortly, but the venue for
the meeting is still to be confirmed, Merzlyakov said.
However, Vardan Oskanyan does not rule out that the meeting may fail.
There is no need for this meeting since the presidents of the two
countries are expected to meet in May, Oskanyan said.