20-year-old functioning of OSCE Minsk Group ineffective

Wednesday, 03 February 2010 09:31

Russia attempts to settle the conflict by means of the co-chair, the president and the Foreign Minister, but this is not enough, Novruz Mammadov.

The Sochi meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia under mediation of Russian President Dmitri Medvedev has not led to a serious achievement in the resolution of the Karabakh conflict.

The statement came from Novruz Mammadov, chief of the foreign relations department of the presidential administration. He considers that despite the attempts of official Baku to settle the problem peacefully, the changes in Armenia’s position again led to no effect in the meeting.

"They said it is time to sign the document. Unfortunately, this did not happen. Lavrov has made a statement with the preamble saying that there is a rapprochement in the positions of the sides. This can be considered as a hope for future. But I think a more significant step could have been done under mediation of the Russian president. Russia attempts to settle the conflict by means of the co-chair, the president and the Foreign Minister. But this is not enough", he said.

He shares the view of Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan who said in his interview to TRT channel that the 20-year-old functioning of the OSCE Minsk Group was ineffective and the three were inattentive and he believe the co-chairs understand that their attempts had zero effect and this cannot continue like that.

"I agree with Erdogan’s opinion. The co-chairs make attempts, but what is the use of it? It is already 20 years that they come and make proposals but if there is no result they should ponder over. If there is no advancement in the conflict settlement, where are we going? The world is watching this process. The unjust resolution of the conflict is a bad precedent for the whole world. Who is backing Armenia that they do not change their position? Had it not been for those forces, Armenia would have been on its knees before Azerbaijan. And they would have begged Turkey to open borders", he said.