ATMOSPHERE OF TRUST IS IMPORTANT FOR EFFICIENT TALKS
11:42 am | June 23, 2010 | Politics
At the initiative of the PACE President, a meeting was held between
Armenian and Azerbaijani delegates in Strasbourg on June 22, RA
parliament’s press service reports.
According to an early agreement, the meeting took place in an extended
format with the participation of opposition representatives.
Present at the meeting were Armen Rustamyan and David Harutyunyan
from the Armenian side, and Sabir Hajiyev and Samad Seyidov from the
Azerbaijani side.
According to the Armenian delegates, the Azerbaijani side displayed
a comparatively wiser stance and agreed that “no progress can be
achieved unless the sides have clarified their future cooperation.”
Furthermore, they underlined that none of the PACE structures can
replace the negotiation format mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group.
We urged that the sides continue the consultation until they found
an answer to main questions. We questioned whether any PACE format
with no experience and institutional capacity could play a role in
the conflict settlement. Rashness in this question is inadmissible
and endangers PACE rating.
We are against a platform that might turn into a theatre of new
operations and entangle the tense situation. At this, the interlocutors
accepted our proposal to continue consultations between the sides.
We also suggested involving other delegates in the consultations. The
important achievement of this meeting was Azerbaijan’s willingness to
continue the cooperation, since up until now Azerbaijan was rejecting
any proposal to cooperate in any format.
We expect official Baku to confirm the stance of its delegates. We
reiterate our readiness to continue the consultations realizing
that the atmosphere of mutual trust and confidence between the two
peoples lays cornerstone for efficient talks,” announced the Armenian
delegates.
From: A. Papazian