Vahram Atanesyan: statement by Presidents of OSCE Minsk Group’s Co-Chair countries does not reflect reality for Artsakh

PanARMENIAN.Net - Chairman of the NKR NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Vahram Atanesyan said that in their statement the Presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group’s Co-Chair countries have once again confirmed that the Karabakh conflict should be solved through negotiations and based on the principles voiced at the L’Aquila Summit in 2009.

Currently, the destiny of talks depends on Azerbaijan’s reaction to the statement, as Armenia has repeatedly stated that it accepts the Madrid Principles as a basis for further negotiations, Atanesyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

“The statement does not reflect the reality for Artsakh, as NKR is an established state. It would have been expedient, if mediators of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries find a variant of political-legal formulation of the current reality to make recognition of Artsakh possible, so that Artsakh protects its rights equally with Azerbaijan,” said Vahram Atanesyan.

Dmitry Medvedev, President of the Russian Federation, Barack Obama, President of the United States of America, and Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the French Republic issued a joint statement on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict during G8 Summit.

The statement reads: “We, the Presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group's Co-Chair countries, France, the Russian Federation, and the United States of America, reaffirm our commitment to support the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan as they finalize the Basic Principles for the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We welcome as a significant step the recognition by both sides that a lasting settlement must be based upon the Helsinki Principles and the elements that we proposed in connection with our statement at the L’Aquila Summit of the Eight on July 10, 2009, relating to: the return of the occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, interim status for Nagorno-Karabakh guaranteeing security and self-governance, a corridor linking Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh; final status of Nagorno-Karabakh to be determined in the future by a legally-binding expression of will, the right of all internally-displaced persons and refugees to return, and international security guarantees, including a peacekeeping operation.”