OSCE Ministerial Adopts Ministerial Statement on Nagorno Karabakh

News

OSCE Ministerial Adopts Ministerial Statement on Nagorno Karabakh
December 5, 2006

On Tuesday December 5, the 14th Ministerial Meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe concluded in Brussels. Key on the OSCE agenda this year were OSCE reforms. The OSCE Ministerial Council adopted a decision on strengthening the effectiveness of the OSCE, as well as other decisions on terrorism, organized crime, small arms and weapons of mass destruction, economic and environmental matters, and human rights, particularly on combating trafficking in human beings. On regional conflicts, Nagorno Karabakh was the only conflict around which there was agreement.

The Ministerial Statement on Nagorno Karabakh began, "We are encouraged that negotiations in 2006, facilitated by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group and supported by the OSCE Chairman in Office, have brought the sides closer to agreement on the basic principles for the resolution on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict." The Statement also referred to the recent OSCE Mission to the region to observe fires and their affects. "We call on the sides, with the assistance of the international community, to extend co-operation to conduct an environmental operation to suppress the fires in the affected territories and to overcome detrimental consequences. These measures can constitute significant steps toward restoring confidence between the sides. The OSCE is available to assist," it said.

The Armenian delegation at the Conference was headed by Armenia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Vartan Oskanian. He noted that the Statement fairly reflects the current status of the negotiations and welcomed the OSCE' continuing commitment to helping the sides secure a lasting resolution.

In his annual speech at the Ministerial, Minister Oskanian focused on OSCE reforms, including that of ODIHR, and the importance of the OSCE's field missions. Of course, he also spoke about Armenia's development, and the progress of the Nagorno Karabakh negotiations process.

On Nagorno Karabakh, the Minister said, "No one wants a lasting settlement to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict more than we do. The last meeting between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan gives us hope that agreement may yet be found even on those principles around which we still don't see eye to eye. We know that a lasting solution will depend on the security and status of the people of Nagorno Karabakh. That is how this conflict began when their security was violated, and their right to self-determination trampled over. The principles under discussion seek to satisfy the right of the people of Nagorno Karabakh to self-determination while at the same time eliminating the consequences of the conflict. We anticipate that indeed Azerbaijan will find the will to acknowledge and respect the right of the people of Nagorno Karabakh to determine its own future, its own status, its own security arrangements."

He continued, "In just a few days, Nagorno Karabakh will hold a referendum to adopt a Constitution. During this decade and a half, they have built political institutions, through elections they have selected their own authorities and developed a legislative framework. They recognized the need for a basic law, and recognized that a referendum is the only acceptable way to collectively adopt that basic law. For the international community to dismiss their democratic aspirations and blame them for choosing to behave democratically is counterproductive. Azerbaijan claims that exercising a vote is an obstruction to the peace process. It can't be further from the truth. What really obstructs the process is their overreaction to Karabakh's democratic activities, their refusal to engage Nagorno Karabakh in peace talks, their repeated militaristic calls and their persistent efforts to sidetrack the Minsk Group negotiations process."

In the margins of the OSCE Ministerial, the Minister held bilateral meetings with US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried, the Foreign Minister of Luxembourg Mr. Jean Asselborn, the State Minister of European Affairs of Ireland Mr. Noel Treacy, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia Mr. Urmas Paet, the Foreign Minister of Hungary, Dr. Kinga Goncz. The Minister also held meetings with the Mr. Bernardino Leon, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of Spain which will assume the chairmanship of the OSCE in 2007, and Mr. Manuel Lobo Antunes, the State Secretary for European Affairs of Portugal, which will assume the Presidency of the European Union in the second half of 2008.

Minister Oskanian also met with Mr. Goran Lennmarker, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Ambassador Christian Strohal, Director of ODIHR and Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, the Secretary General of the OSCE.

Print this page