Armenian official does not rule out changes to peace outline
The Madrid principles, an outline for settling the Upper (Nagorno)
Garabagh conflict proposed by international mediators in late 2007,
could undergo repeated changes until Armenia and Azerbaijan sign a
final peace accord, the Armenian president’s security adviser
Garnik Isagulian has reportedly said.
"The Madrid principles are a document taken as a basis in negotiations. But this does not mean that everything written in these documents cannot be altered afterwards. A multitude of documents were previously taken as a basis but they were changed later," Isagulian was quoted by Novosti Armenii news agency as saying on Thursday.
He added that Yerevan had submitted its proposals on the updated version of the Madrid Document to the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs brokering the peace process.
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a cease-fire in 1994, but Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh and seven other Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law. Peace talks have been largely fruitless so far and refugees are still unable to return home. The Madrid principles, submitted to Baku and Yerevan in November 2007, cover the return of the regions surrounding Upper Garabagh, including liberation of the strategic Lachin and Kalbajar districts on special conditions, to Azerbaijani control, the right of internally displaced persons and refugees to return to their former places of residence, and granting Upper Garabagh an interim status of self-administration. In the following stage, determination of the region’s final legal status "through a legally binding expression of will" is envisioned.
However, the Armenian presidential aide dismissed the reports saying agreement has been reached on returning five districts to Azerbaijan, claiming that such allegations had been contemplated by the Armenian opposition.
"By issuing such statements, they are sending a message to foreign forces that, if propelled to power, they will be ready to return five districts to Azerbaijan," Isagulian maintained.
The adviser noted that at this stage in peace talks Armenia has brought to the agenda issues that it had not raised before, which concern territories that he regarded as "Azerbaijan-occupied Shaumyan, Mardakert and Martuni regions" and "the problems of Armenian refugees".*
"The Madrid principles are a document taken as a basis in negotiations. But this does not mean that everything written in these documents cannot be altered afterwards. A multitude of documents were previously taken as a basis but they were changed later," Isagulian was quoted by Novosti Armenii news agency as saying on Thursday.
He added that Yerevan had submitted its proposals on the updated version of the Madrid Document to the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs brokering the peace process.
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a cease-fire in 1994, but Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh and seven other Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law. Peace talks have been largely fruitless so far and refugees are still unable to return home. The Madrid principles, submitted to Baku and Yerevan in November 2007, cover the return of the regions surrounding Upper Garabagh, including liberation of the strategic Lachin and Kalbajar districts on special conditions, to Azerbaijani control, the right of internally displaced persons and refugees to return to their former places of residence, and granting Upper Garabagh an interim status of self-administration. In the following stage, determination of the region’s final legal status "through a legally binding expression of will" is envisioned.
However, the Armenian presidential aide dismissed the reports saying agreement has been reached on returning five districts to Azerbaijan, claiming that such allegations had been contemplated by the Armenian opposition.
"By issuing such statements, they are sending a message to foreign forces that, if propelled to power, they will be ready to return five districts to Azerbaijan," Isagulian maintained.
The adviser noted that at this stage in peace talks Armenia has brought to the agenda issues that it had not raised before, which concern territories that he regarded as "Azerbaijan-occupied Shaumyan, Mardakert and Martuni regions" and "the problems of Armenian refugees".*
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