Russia & CIS General Newswire
January 18, 2008 Friday 6:07 PM MSK

A new war in Karabakh would complicate settlement – Minsk Group

BAKU Jan 18

The settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict will become even more
difficult should hostilities resume in Karabakh, said Bernard
Fassier, the French co-chairman of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe’s Minsk Group.

"If a war starts, the conflict will be even more difficult to settle
and it will lead to further loss of lives. War is suicide," Fassier
said at a news conference following the Minsk Group co-chairmen’s
visit to the conflict region on Friday.

Nagorno Karabakh must be involved in the negotiations at a certain
stage, he said.

"Nagorno Karabakh earlier participated in the talks, but after
Kocharian [the then leader of the separatist movement in Nagorno
Karabakh] became [Armenian] president, he made the decision to
represent both Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh in the talks," Fassier
said.

Russian Co-Chairman Yury Merzlyakov said the negotiators in the
current stage of the talks could do without Karabakh, adding that
Azerbaijan and Armenia were discussing the basic principles of a
settlement now.