Kocharian and Aliyev Agreed on Karabakh Referendum
After the new U.S. co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Matthew Bryza, revealed details of the proposed framework peace deal to resolve the Karabakh conflict last week, much to the annoyance of the Armenian President, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has now released more details. Actually, we already knew what was being discussed, but this is the first time that American and Armenian officials have confirmed them openly, and in so much detail.
The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan have accepted the idea of enabling the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to decide their status in a referendum but disagree on other, less significant issues, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said late Monday.
[…]
“Those items over which the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan continue to disagree do not include a referendum; that concept has been agreed to by the presidents,” it said. “The area of disagreement between the presidents has to do with the sequence in which the consequences of the military conflict are removed.”
Aliev and Kocharian reportedly disagreed, among other things, on a time frame for Armenian withdrawal from Kelbajar, one of the seven occupied Azerbaijani districts sandwiched between Karabakh and Armenia, during their previous meeting held at the Rambouillet castle outside Paris in February.
“In an attempt to resolve this remaining area of disagreement, a proposal was made by the co-chairs after Rambouillet. This proposal was accepted by Armenia in Bucharest. Azerbaijan rejected it,” the Foreign Ministry said without elaborating.
The full news item can be read here.
