NO WINNERS IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT – NATO REP
Tert.am
14.02.12
There can be no winners in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Mr James
Appathurai, NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the
Caucasus and Central Asia, stated in an interview with Armenia’s
Public TV.
He noted that the OSCE Minsk Group is the only format to deal with
the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. The 28 NATO member-states are
supportive of the OSCE Minsk Group processes.
The NATO members are unanimous that there cannot be winners in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Appathurai said.
All the sides will suffer political, military and economic losses.
Negotiations are the only way to progress, he added.
Mr Appathurai recalled his recent meeting with President of Azerbaijan
Ilham Aliyev, who re-affirmed his readiness to settle the conflict
through negotiations. President Aliyev did not propose any format
rather than the OSCE Minsk Group.
With respect to the possibility of the South Caucasus states joining
NATO, Mr Appathurai said that the NATO members made a decision on
Georgia in Bucharest. Georgia will joint NATO. However, neither Armenia
nor Azerbaijan shows interest. NATO is not looking for new members,
nor does it object to admitting new states, Appathurai said.
The Armenia-NATO Individual Partnership Program is evidence of the
cooperating parties’ intentions. A final version of the program has
been approved, and relevant work is in progress, Appathurai said.