ITAR-TASS, Russia
Nov 22 2009
Important progress made at Armenian-Azerbaijani talks
22.11.2009, 20.36
FRANFKURT-ON-MAINE, November 22 (Itar-Tass) — Important progress was
made at the Munich negotiations of the Armenian and Azerbaijani
presidents on Karabakh settlement on Sunday, French Cochairman of the
OSCE Minsk Group Bernard Fassier said.
Also, the meeting exposed certain difficulties in the negotiations, he said.
In the words of Fassier, the French, Russian and U.S. cochairmen of
the OSCE Minsk Group had agreed to prepare another meeting of the
Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders. He did not say when the new meeting
might take place.
Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan did not make comments after
the Munich event.
That was the eighth round of their direct negotiations in the past 18
months. Four meetings were held in Russia.
The sides are coordinating a framework agreement based on the Madrid
Principles, which were signed by the cochairmen in November 2007. Once
the framework agreement is ready, the sides will start to draft a
fundamental political settlement document.
The Madrid Principles stipulate Azerbaijani control over lands
occupied by Armenia and an intermediate status of Karabakh, which
would receive security guarantees and administrative autonomy. Armenia
will be linked to Karabakh with a corridor, and the Karabakh legal
status will be defined in a referendum. The Madrid Principles confirm
the right of all displaced persons and refugees to return home.
Finally, the principles provide international security guarantees,
i.e. a peacekeeping operation.
The Munich meeting with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan on November
22 will be a crucial event, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at
the opening of a refugee compound on November 20.
`We will present our program at the meeting. The meeting will play a
crucial role in the negotiations. There have been several meetings
this year, but no results have been attained. If the upcoming meeting
fails, the hopes we pin on negotiations will be crushed,’ he said.
Aliyev does not rule out a military solution if the negotiations prove
to be abortive. `If the hope we pin on negotiations fails, we will
have no other way [to resolve the problem]. We must be prepared for
that,’ he said.
Azerbaijan has the right to use force for freeing its lands, the
president said. Yet Azerbaijan wants a peaceful solution, he added.
`If Armenia thinks we can negotiate forever, it is mistaken. We will
negotiate until we hope that the problem will be resolved, until we
have some hope. If we see that the Armenian side does nothing but
foot-dragging and wants to make the negotiations eternal, the
negotiations will stop,’ Aliyev said.
Azerbaijan does not want `an imitation of negotiations,’ he said.
Armenia must meet Azerbaijan halfway and free the occupied Azerbaijani
lands, Aliyev said. Refugees must return, and then the Karabakh status
will be considered, he said.
`Azerbaijan will never agree to independence of Karabakh,’ Aliyev concluded.
Indifference of the international community drags out the settlement
of the Karabakh conflict, Aliyev said earlier in the week, while
opening of a residential area for displaced persons.
`The world is indifferent. International organizations have passed
resolutions, but they are not fulfilled and thus become senseless,’ he
said.
Whenever lands are occupied in another region, international forces
interfere and apply political and military methods, `but this is not
the case,’ Aliyev said.
`The international community does not put pressure on Armenia, which
breaches international norms. Azerbaijan needs to make a thorough
analysis of the situation and to make corrections in its action plan,’
he said.
Certain progress has been made at the negotiations, the president
noted. `The pullout of Armenian forces from all Azerbaijani lands,
including seven districts outside Karabakh, and the return of
Azerbaijanis to Karabakh are on the agenda. This gives us hope and
encourages our further participation in the negotiations,’ he said.
So far, Baku sticks to negotiations, Aliyev said. `Azerbaijan will
continue political and economic pressure on Armenia until justice is
restored,’ he concluded.
Meanwhile, Sargsyan told the media that Armenia was seeking long-term
solutions, which would bring genuine and lasting peace to the region.
`We are very serious and responsible about the negotiations,’ he said.
`Reasonable solutions are possible, but only if the negotiating
parties assess the situation realistically.’
`It would be wrong to reach decisions, which may be acceptable at a
certain moment but will not provide lasting peace,’ Sargsyan said.