MilAz.info, Azerbaijan
Jan 5 2012
US Congress’ Helsinki Commission policy adviser: `The Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict looks little different than 15 years ago’
11:14 05-01-2012
Michael Och, a policy adviser at the US Congress’ Helsinki Commission,
considers that the conflicts in the South Caucasus have threatened the
stability and security of the entire region, APA US correspondent
reports.
`Despite the efforts of the Minsk Group and the occasional exuberant
claims of imminent success, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict looks little
different than 15 years ago’, he says.
Mr. Och, who last month organized a hearing on the Caucasus conflict
at the Helsinki Commission, also points out that things are different
in Abkhazia and South Ossetia as well, where matters languished
unchanged for many years until the 2008 Russia-Georgia war.
The analyst mentions contradictions between two Helsinki principles:
territorial integrity and self-determination.
To this day, he says, after two decades of mediation, the parties
refer to these two principles as their guiding lights and
justification.
‘Neither the negotiators nor the international community have been
able to bridge the gap’, he says.
From: Baghdasarian