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Moscow Times, Russia
June 9 2007
Hope for Step Toward Karabakh Peace at CIS Talks
By Jane Barrett
Reuters
YEREVAN, Armenia -- European mediators hope Azerbaijan and Armenia
will agree to small steps to improve life for people of the disputed
enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh at peace talks in St. Petersburg on
Saturday, even if they make little progress on the main issue of the
breakaway region's status.
Azeri President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Robert Kocharyan,
himself a former Nagorno-Karabakh leader, will meet in St. Petersburg
on Saturday on the sidelines of an informal CIS summit amid signs
that both leaders will stand by their positions.
One underlying fear is that if dialogue fails, violence could
restart, destabilizing an area emerging as a major energy producer
and a key oil and gas transport route between the Caspian Sea and
Europe.
Mediators from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe said the parties could kick-start talks on a deal, which would
put aside the key issue of who rules the region and focus on
step-by-step rapprochement.
"This is a golden opportunity," Miguel Angel Moratinos, the Spanish
foreign minister and current chairman of the OSCE, which is guiding
the negotiations, told reporters during a visit to the region this
week.
Nagorno-Karabakh, a predominantly Armenian region of Azerbaijan,
broke away in the late 1980s as the Soviet Union disintegrated,
triggering a war between separatists and Azerbaijan from 1992 to
1994. More than 35,000 people were killed.
Since the war, the enclave and lands around it have been controlled
by a separatist army, backed by Armenian volunteers.
Nagorno-Karabakh's minority Azeri and Kurdish populations largely
fled during the fighting.
The 140,000 population of Nagorno-Karabakh, backed by Armenia,
overwhelmingly voted in December in a referendum to reiterate their
commitment to full independence; but the mountainous region has not
been recognized by any nation.
Armenia is involved in talks on this most intractable dispute in the
former Soviet Union, but it denies being a party to the conflict.
Ahead of the meeting between Aliyev and Kocharyan in St. Petersburg,
Armenia's foreign minister said ensuring Nagorno-Karabakh's right to
self-determination was paramount. "If we can do that, I believe we
will find solutions to other issues," Vardan Oskanyan said.
Azerbaijan wants Nagorno-Karabakh back but says it would give the
region a high level of autonomy.
"The current state of the negotiation process and also the known
statements by the Azeri side in the past two months have left very
little hope for a positive result," Kocharyan's press office said,
the Armenian Mediamax news agency reported.
OSCE negotiators say that despite the lack of agreement on the
principal issue, there is still a possibility of step-by-step moves
to ease the crisis.
Diplomats said Moratinos likened the proposal to talks held by Spain,
Britain and Gibraltar, where the parties agreed to maintain different
opinions on the Rock's sovereignty but work together on practical
steps to improve life around the area.
June 9 2007
Hope for Step Toward Karabakh Peace at CIS Talks
By Jane Barrett
Reuters
YEREVAN, Armenia -- European mediators hope Azerbaijan and Armenia
will agree to small steps to improve life for people of the disputed
enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh at peace talks in St. Petersburg on
Saturday, even if they make little progress on the main issue of the
breakaway region's status.
Azeri President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Robert Kocharyan,
himself a former Nagorno-Karabakh leader, will meet in St. Petersburg
on Saturday on the sidelines of an informal CIS summit amid signs
that both leaders will stand by their positions.
One underlying fear is that if dialogue fails, violence could
restart, destabilizing an area emerging as a major energy producer
and a key oil and gas transport route between the Caspian Sea and
Europe.
Mediators from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe said the parties could kick-start talks on a deal, which would
put aside the key issue of who rules the region and focus on
step-by-step rapprochement.
"This is a golden opportunity," Miguel Angel Moratinos, the Spanish
foreign minister and current chairman of the OSCE, which is guiding
the negotiations, told reporters during a visit to the region this
week.
Nagorno-Karabakh, a predominantly Armenian region of Azerbaijan,
broke away in the late 1980s as the Soviet Union disintegrated,
triggering a war between separatists and Azerbaijan from 1992 to
1994. More than 35,000 people were killed.
Since the war, the enclave and lands around it have been controlled
by a separatist army, backed by Armenian volunteers.
Nagorno-Karabakh's minority Azeri and Kurdish populations largely
fled during the fighting.
The 140,000 population of Nagorno-Karabakh, backed by Armenia,
overwhelmingly voted in December in a referendum to reiterate their
commitment to full independence; but the mountainous region has not
been recognized by any nation.
Armenia is involved in talks on this most intractable dispute in the
former Soviet Union, but it denies being a party to the conflict.
Ahead of the meeting between Aliyev and Kocharyan in St. Petersburg,
Armenia's foreign minister said ensuring Nagorno-Karabakh's right to
self-determination was paramount. "If we can do that, I believe we
will find solutions to other issues," Vardan Oskanyan said.
Azerbaijan wants Nagorno-Karabakh back but says it would give the
region a high level of autonomy.
"The current state of the negotiation process and also the known
statements by the Azeri side in the past two months have left very
little hope for a positive result," Kocharyan's press office said,
the Armenian Mediamax news agency reported.
OSCE negotiators say that despite the lack of agreement on the
principal issue, there is still a possibility of step-by-step moves
to ease the crisis.
Diplomats said Moratinos likened the proposal to talks held by Spain,
Britain and Gibraltar, where the parties agreed to maintain different
opinions on the Rock's sovereignty but work together on practical
steps to improve life around the area.