Today’s Zaman
Feb 5 2012
OSCE’s third co-chair France to be replaced by Turkey in minsk Group?
5 February 2012 / LAMÄ°YA ADÄ°LGIZI, Ä°STANBUL
After the French Senate passed a bill penalizing denying the 1915
killings of Armenians at the hands of Ottoman Turks constituted
genocide, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu, speaking in an
interview broadcast by news channel CNN Türk on Jan. 28, denounced
France’s co-chairmanship of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe’s (OCSE) Minsk Group.
Although Azerbaijanis are in favor of replacing France as co-chair,
finding France biased, Armenians are satisfied with the French role as
a co-chair, claiming the country is non-aligned and impartial. Talking
to Sunday’s Zaman, Fazil Mustafa, an Azerbaijani deputy, says it
justifiable that Turkey calls into question the French
co-chairmanship, underlining that France must be replaced by Turkey.
Commenting on the French bill criminalizing the denial of the Armenian
`genocide,’ Mustafa says that by passing the bill France revealed its
biased and one-sided position, and added that the argument put forward
by senior Turkish officials is reasonable. `France’s position as a
co-chair of the Minsk Group has been compromised. The country is not
neutral, a prerequisite for any mediator. France supports Armenia in
opposition to Azerbaijan, so the country must be made to give up its
position.’
Following the approval of the bill in France’s lower house, Turkish
President Abdullah Gül announced that France should withdraw from the
Minsk Group if the bill is approved by the French Senate and becomes
law as this would mean that France is no longer neutral in the
resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Gül’s statement was
recently restated by DavutoÄ?lu, meaning the issue of the French
co-chairmanship needs to be reconsidered.
Considering the issue political rhetoric, Sabine Freizer, the
Ä°stanbul-based director of the International Crisis Group’s Europe
Program, in an interview with Sunday’s Zaman commented on the chances
of any changes in co-chairs, saying it is unlikely that Turkey will
get France replaced. `I don’t believe that Turkey will get much
support from the OSCE states when it tries to link the problems of the
Minsk Group with the passage of legislation in France that penalizes
persons denying the genocide,’ she said.
`Turkey needs to get the support of all 56 participating states — or
at least of the country that chairs the organization at that time. It
will also need the support of Armenia, Azerbaijan and the other three
current co-chairing countries, the US, France and Russia,’ Freizer
added.
The OSCE, the world’s largest security-oriented intergovernmental
organization, works on the basis of consensus, so if Armenia, as a
member of the OSCE, vetoes Turkey’s co-chairmanship of the Minsk
Group, Turkey cannot become the Mink Group’s co-chair.
Richard Giragosian, director of the Yerevan-based Armenian Center for
Regional Studies, considers the removal of France from the Minsk Group
unlikely, especially as earlier pressure from within the EU failed to
unseat the French.
Freizer also stated that when the issue of replacing France as
co-chair by another EU country was on the table, her team was in
favor, saying that `the EU would be responsible for much of the
technical [nation building] and financial support if there is ever a
peace agreement.’ Hence, the expert thinks that any kind of change in
the leadership of the Minsk Group will be difficult to pass.
Praising Turkey’s enthusiasm for the Minsk Group, Giragosian says an
active Turkey within the Minsk Group `may play a greater and more
direct role in the region through this under-used format [Minsk group
mediation].’ According to Giragosian, if Turkey truly seeks to benefit
from a new dynamic focus on the OSCE, it needs to reconsider the
reconciliation process between Armenians and Turks. `The quickest path
toward garnering diplomatic dividends would be to re-engage and
restart the normalization process with Armenia in a more sincere and
resolute manner,’ he said.
Commenting on the role of the Minsk Group in the settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Mustafa says the Minsk Group seems to have
failed as the conflict has remained unresolved for two decades and
progress in the negotiations process has been minimal.
Mustafa notes that questioning the French position in the Minsk Group
could be a shortcut to the start of calling into question the group’s
very mandate. The Azerbaijani deputy considers the Minsk Group
ineffective as it does not follow up on its commitments. `Not only
France, but the Minsk Group in its entirety needs to be replaced. It
is better that the Minsk Group be replaced by an international
institution such as the UN so that the Minsk Group, with its biased
member states openly supporting Armenia, does not ossify and that its
impartiality does not become permanent,’ he said.
Considering the Minsk Group format in many ways outdated, Freizer
thinks that a serious discussion is needed on the value and
effectiveness of the Minsk Group format.
The Minsk Group was established in 1992 to encourage a peaceful
resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which erupted in the late
`80s between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Minsk Group has been
mediating for 20 years between the conflicting sides, however, no
positive results have yet been reached, making the Minsk Group an
institution with an unfinished mission.