MATTHEW BRYZA: THE RESIDENTS OF NAGORNO KARABAKH SHOULD PLAY A KEY ROLE IN DETERMINING THEIR REGION’S STATUS

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MATTHEW BRYZA: THE RESIDENTS OF NAGORNO KARABAKH SHOULD PLAY A KEY ROLE IN DETERMINING THEIR REGION’S STATUS

“Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Moscow on August 1 was positive.
As both Ministers Elmar Mammadyarov and Edward Nalbandian stated at their press conference, their one-on-one discussion lasted over an hour and was held in a positive mood,” American Co-Chair of OSCE Minsk Group Matthew Bryza told APA.
He said the Foreign Ministers agreed to continue negotiations under the Minsk Group to reconcile their countries’ respective positions on the remaining issues as outlined in the Co-Chairs’ November 2007 Madrid Document, which sets out suggestions proposed by the Co-Chairs to guide the negotiation of a framework agreement for a final resolution.
“The Co-Chairs’ suggestions form a balanced package. It is very important to remember that no single element has been agreed. The only way any element of the Madrid Document can be agreed is if all elements are agreed at the same time in a broad package,” the Co-Chair said.
Matthew Bryza said the Co-Chairs proceed from a starting position of recognizing Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.
“To reach a political settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Armenia and Azerbaijan will eventually have to reach a compromise on NK’s status. We cannot predict what that compromise will look like, or when it will emerge. But, the Co-Chairs recommend that the residents of NK play a key role in determining their region’s status through some type of voting process at some point in the future,” he said.
American mediator considers that the specifics of such a voting process must be negotiated.
“Such a voting process could only emerge after the return of internally displaced persons and refugees, which could take quite some time,” he said.

Baku. Tamara Grigoryeva – APA

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