Change of OSCE MG format out of question
Some change in the position of Azerbaijan was noticed at the meeting between Armenian and Azeri presidents in St. Petersburg. It is early to say something concrete yet, but the tendency exists," Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian stated to a press conference in Yerevan. He said, the issue of changing the OSCE Minsk Group format on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement is not under discussion.
"However, the issue of including representatives of Nagorno Karabakh in negotiations has always been present in the agenda of talks. Karabakh's participation will not mean change or enlargement of negotiation format. Just the opposite, it means to return the major format of talks, since during the initial stage -till March of 1997, NKR participated in the OSCE Minsk Group process," Oskanian said.
Commenting on the recent meeting between representatives of CIS self-declared republics in Tiraspol, Vartan Oskanian underlined that NKR representative Arman Meliqyan participated in the meeting as an observer. "The Nagorno Karabakh problem differs from other conflicts, and it must not be viewed together with other conflicts," the RA Foreign Minister stressed.
"However, the issue of including representatives of Nagorno Karabakh in negotiations has always been present in the agenda of talks. Karabakh's participation will not mean change or enlargement of negotiation format. Just the opposite, it means to return the major format of talks, since during the initial stage -till March of 1997, NKR participated in the OSCE Minsk Group process," Oskanian said.
Commenting on the recent meeting between representatives of CIS self-declared republics in Tiraspol, Vartan Oskanian underlined that NKR representative Arman Meliqyan participated in the meeting as an observer. "The Nagorno Karabakh problem differs from other conflicts, and it must not be viewed together with other conflicts," the RA Foreign Minister stressed.
