Friday 4 January 2008

INTERNATIONAL MEDIATORS ATTACH NEW ELEMENTS TO PROPOSALS ON ARMENIAN-AZERBAIJANI CONFLICT SETTLEMENT: US DIPLOMAT: ARTICLE 301 POISONING TURKEY'S

2007-12-25 14:12:00

ArmInfo. The international mediators attached new elements to the last proposals on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, which were presented to Azerbaijan and Armenia in Madrid. The details of the elements are not made publicly available due to the confidentiality of the talks. "
There are several new elements to this proposal, although I would rather not comment on the specifics until the presidents have had the opportunity to thoroughly study the principles and discuss their views with us," said the US Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Matthew Bryza, in his online interview with Trend on 24 December.

The written proposals which are comprised of ten principles were presented to the conflicting sides by the OSCE Co-chairs late November in Madrid.

Presenting the proposals to the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia, the mediators stated that they presented the proposals in a written form for prompt adoption due to the danger that after the possible replacement of the powers in both countries as a result of the presidential elections, the new heads may deny the agreement reached by the sides. The principles of the settlement are not made publicly available due to the confidentiality of the talks.

According to Bryza, the mediators have not yet heard the formal responses of Presidents of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev and Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, to the proposed Basic Principles for the Settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict. "
We consider it a positive development that the two sides are seriously studying the document and have both indicated an oral "gentlemen's agreement" is possible before the Armenian elections in February. We will discuss our proposal with the presidents in detail when we travel to the region in mid-January,"
Bryza said.

"Once an agreement is reached, we are assuming the sides will disclose the specifics of the Basic Principles to the public. However, until we have reached an agreement, we would rather not to comment on these specific elements," he said.

"The Co-Chairs firmly believe the current set of ideas on the table provides the only logical and practicable way to advance towards a peaceful settlement of the conflict, and we hope the two presidents will come to this conclusion as well," the US diplomat said.

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