STEPANAKERT SEEKS CO-CHAIRS’ ATTENTION ON AZERI AGGRESSION
Monday, February 3rd, 2014
Spokesman for the President of Nagorno-Karabakh, Davit Babayan
YEREVAN (Armenpress)–It is not yet clear whether the OSCE Minsk Group
Co-Chairs will visit Stepanakert in their latest tour of the region,
the spokesman of the President of Karabakh Davit Babayan told the
press on Monday. But in the event that the Co-Chairs do visit for
a meeting, Babayan assured that the President will give foremost
attention to Azerbaijan’s most recent provocations near the border.
“The Co-Chairs are well-acquainted with Stepanakert’s position. They
know that Stepanakert wants, first of all, full participation in all
stages of the negotiation process, from beginning to end,” Babayan
said. “It should be clear to everybody that there is no return to the
past, in terms of both status and boundaries. We can never put our
independence and security under question,” Davit Babayan said. He added
that Stepanakert is in favor of a peaceful settlement of the conflict.
On Feb. 2, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs arrived in the region.
Armenpress reports, citing a twitter message from the US Co-Chair
James Warlick, that the Co-Chairs intend to meet with the presidents
of Armenia and Azerbaijan during their visit. “We will meet with the
presidents to find out if they are ready to make steps towards peac,”
wrote Warlick in his tweet.
As reported by the Azerbaijani news agency APA, the OSCE Co-Chairs
have arrived in Azerbaijan. French co-chair Jacques Faure and US
co-chair James Warlick arrived in Baku on Feb. 2. On Feb. 3, the
co-chairs will meet the president and minister of foreign affairs of
Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev and Elmar Mamedyarov. After Baku they will
visit Armenia. The situation of the settlement process of the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict will be discussed at the meetings.
On Jan. 24 the ministers of foreign affairs of Armenia and Azerbaijan,
Edward Nalbandyan and Elmar Mamedyarov, met in Paris. The meeting
was attended also by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the Personal
Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk. The
sides agreed on the forthcoming visit of the co-chairs to the region.
They intend to organize a meeting of the presidents of Armenia and
Azerbaijan Serzh Sarkisian and Ilham Aliyev.