Azernews.Az

ALMATY - The OSCE-brokered talks on settling the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict between Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers last weekend brought no results.
The heads of delegations - Russian and French Foreign Ministers Sergei Lavrov and Bernard Kouchner, and US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg - held talks with Ministers Elmar Mammadyarov and Eduard Nalbandian during an informal OSCE meeting in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
The mediating OSCE Minsk Group released a statement on Saturday encouraging a peaceful settlement to the Nagorno Garabagh conflict, the OSCE website said.
A long-standing dispute over Nagorno Garabagh, a breakaway region inside Azerbaijan, has been the cause of two decade-long hostility between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
"The Heads of Delegation ... reminded the sides of their commitment to seek a peaceful settlement to the Nagorno Garabagh conflict based on the principles contained in the Helsinki Final Act, particularly those related to refraining from the threat or use of force, the territorial integrity of states, and the equal rights and self determination of peoples," the Minsk Group’s statement said.
The co-chairs said the elements articulated by the Russian, French and US presidents on June 26 must be the foundation of any fair and lasting settlement to the conflict. These proposed elements have been conceived as an integrated whole, and any attempt to select some elements over others would make it impossible to achieve a balanced solution, they said.
The ministers stressed that the efforts made so far by the parties to the conflict have been insufficient to overcome existing differences and expressed regret over recent developments that have exacerbated tensions in the region "including the serious armed incident of June 18-19, 2010 and inflammatory public statements."
An armed clash between Armenian and Azerbaijani armed forces resulted in the death of five soldiers on both sides.
The ministers warned that the use of force has caused the current situation, and its use again would only lead to suffering, devastation, and a legacy of conflict and hostility that would last for generations. The co-chairs urged a greater spirit of compromise to reach agreement on a common basis for continuing the negotiations. Additional actions by the sides are needed to reinforce the 1994 ceasefire and to create a more favorable atmosphere for further political dialogue and reaching agreements. The ministers renewed their commitment to support the sides in reaching a peace accord, but reiterated that the primary responsibility to put an end to the Garabagh conflict still remains with Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders.
The Garabagh conflict flared up in the late 1980s due to Armenia's territorial claims. Armenian troops have been occupying over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno Garabagh and seven other regions surrounding it, since the early 1990s. Years of peace talks have brought few tangible results. The mediating Minsk Group co-chairs, which include Russia, France and the United States, initially proposed a peace outline in Madrid in November 2007. In Athens in November 2009, the updated version of the Madrid Document was submitted to the sides. The document stipulates a stage-by-stage resolution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, which should start with "the return of the territories surrounding Nagorno Garabagh to Azerbaijani control" and a future determination of the legal status of Nagorno Garabagh "through a legally binding expression of will" and the right of "internally displaced persons and refugees to return to their former places of residence." Azerbaijan stated that it accepts the renewed Madrid principles early this year, while the Armenian stance remains unclear.

"Armenia unwilling to reach progress"
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Mammadyarov said after talks with his Armenian counterpart that "no advances were reached" at the meeting in Almaty.
Speaking to reporters, Mammadyarov questioned Yerevan’s willingness to move the peace process forward.
"Personally, I have developed an opinion that Armenia does not want any progress to be reached, stability to be restored, though they are saying that they do want to achieve progress," he said.
The Azerbaijani minister noted that Armenia is raising "issues working on which is impossible at the current stage".
"For example, the issue of Nagorno Garabagh’s status. The co-chairs are proposing a stage-by-stage solution while putting forward their principles. First, the most complicated issue needs to be resolved. This is the issue of freeing our lands from occupation. Only after that could we talk about any relations between the two countries’ peoples."
Mammadyarov said that Armenia "created a problem" with Garabagh settlement "at the last moment" by failing to accept a withdrawal of its troops from the occupied Azerbaijani territories.
Prior to his visit to Kazakhstan, Mammadyarov told journalists in Baku that discussions would focus on an Armenian pullout from the Lachin and Kalbajar regions around Nagorno Garabagh, voicing hope that the two strategic regions would be returned to Azerbaijan within five years after the signing of a peace accord.
Mammadyarov emphasized that Baku was ready to open up all communications if the regions surrounding Nagorno Garabagh are liberated. "This time it didn’t work, but we should be patient and keep working on it."
Armenian Minister Nalbandian was also pessimistic about the Almaty meeting. "Due to Azerbaijan’s position, we did not succeed in adopting a five-lateral statement in the course of the OSCE Foreign Ministers Council’s informal meeting," he claimed in a statement on Armenia’s public TV channel, but added that the talks in Kazakhstan were beneficial overall.
Referring to the joint statement issued by the Russian and French foreign ministers and the US deputy secretary of state, Nalbandian said the Garabagh conflict is to be resolved based on non-use of force, territorial integrity of states and self-determination of nations. Nalbandian maintained that Azerbaijan was taking as a basis only the territorial integrity principle.
According to the Armenian minister, the Minsk Group co-chairing countries underlined that the elements of a conflict settlement submitted to the parties are inseparable, and separating any of them from the whole would make a balanced solution impossible.
Early last week, Nalbandian claimed that the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents were presented a new document on settling the Garabagh conflict during their meeting in Russia on June 17. He termed the document "a new version" of the Madrid Document.
But the Azerbaijani government said Baku does not recognize such a document. The Foreign Ministry reminded that Azerbaijan has agreed to the updated Madrid Document and that talks are underway based on it.
Though the Almaty meeting was fruitless, the Minsk Group co-chairs plan to visit the region again by September. The mediators are seeking to arrange the next meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers, Mammadyarov said. He added that Baku supports the co-chairs’ putting forward new initiatives.