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OSCE Minsk Group Karabakh Conflict Report - Madrid
RECOMMENDATIONS
To the Governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan:
1. Agree before the 2008 elections on a document of basic principles making provision for:
(a) security guarantees and the deployment of international peacekeepers;
(b) withdrawal of Armenian and Nagorno-Karabakh forces from all occupied territories adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh, with special modalities for Kelbajar and Lachin;
(c) return of displaced persons;
(d) Nagorno-Karabakh’s final status to be determined eventually by a vote, with an interim status to be settled on until that time; and
(e) reopening of all transport and trade routes.
More... (source: The Karabakh Deal)
Below is the extract from Armenia’s opposition leader, former president Levon Ter-Petrosyan speech during the latest rally listing the basic principles of the proposed Karabakh settlement.
“Thus, it is perfectly obvious that we are standing on the brink of a resolution to the Karabagh conflict. It is also beyond doubt that the Madrid proposal, which the Minsk Group gave to the parties in December, 2007, and which is based on the idea of reconciling two principles of international law – the right to national self-determination and the principle of inviolability of territorial integrity – will be the basis of the new proposal. As for the essence of the resolution or the specific program, it will consist of approximately the following points:
1. Withdrawal of Armenian forces from the Azerbaijani regions surrounding Nagorno-Karabagh;
2. Resettlement of these regions with Azerbaijani refugees;
3. Return of Azerbaijani refugees to the territory of Nagorno-Karabagh itself;
4. Provision of an overland link connecting Nagorno-Karabagh to Armenia through the Lachin corridor;
5. Deployment of peace-keeping forces on across the borders of Nagorno-Karabagh;
6. Demilitarization of the territories that have been returned to Azerbaijan;
7. Lifting of the blockade of Armenia’s and Karabagh’s external communications, and reopening of the Armenian-Turkish border;
8. Definition of an interim status for Nagorno-Karabagh Republic;
9. Conduct of a referendum on the final status of Nagorno-Karabagh in some undefined, future date;
10. Provision of international financial aid for the restoration of the conflict zone.”
As I said before,
these principles (November/December 2007) look very similar to the
phased version (September 1997) of the conflict settlement (except
added Karabakh referendum part) over which Ter-Petrosyan was forced to
resign in February 1998. Although many concerned about the lack of
clarity related to the principles and the principles themselves, RFE/RL notes
that Ter-Petrosyan “did not specify whether he thinks Yerevan should go
along with them. He said only that the Armenian side should have the
mediators clarify when proposed referendum would take place and who
would administer it. Ter-Petrosian had earlier described those
principles as largely acceptable and stressed the fact that they are
similar to a peace plan which he had strongly advocated while in
power.”
What about the Armenians in the territories
Bruce Tasker 10 weeks 1 day ago
None of the Minsk recommendations, or guidelines, or whatever, make any reference to the Armenians who have been relocated into the surrounding territories. I have just found a report from an OSCE field trip to the region in February 2008, when they estimated there could be up to 15,000 civilians.
For details:
http://thekarabakhdeal.blogspot.com/2008_05_01_archive.html
What is expected to happen to these Armenians when a million angry Azerbaijanis flood back into the territories, with the Azerbaijani army at their backs, and they find Armenians living in their houses?
Not once have you mentioned
Anonymous 10 weeks 1 day ago
Not once have you mentioned yourself that these people are a part of the Serjik+Robik bargain, the future dwellers of the Northern Avenue.
That is exactly what I have been saying for a year
Bruce Tasker 10 weeks 1 day ago
Anonymous,
My initial interest in this Karabakh affair stemmed from my studies for the National Assembly in 2004, when I saw that the World Bank and the IMF were behind a scheme to pump massive amounts of corrupt funds into the construction of dozens of apartment buildings, which at that time had stood empty for years, and today still stand empty, together with many more which have been built since, including the parts of the Northern Prospect which have been completed.
I have argued that these buildings have been in preparation for the time Karabakh is resolved and tens of thousands of Karabakhis and Armenians are forced out of Karabakh and the surrounding territories.
I still argue that that is the case, so if this is what you want to hear from me again, I repeat that this is the fundamental thinking behind the Serjik+Robik sell-out of Karabakh, to turn their money-laundering operations full circle.
Soon Yerevan will be full of the rest of their Karabakhi cronies (there are already 15,000 dominating life here in Yerevan).
BTW - There is already a debate on whether or not these are actually the Madrid recommendations. I will do all I can to get confirmation on that, or have the actual Madrid document released.
For instance
Ani 10 weeks 1 day ago
http://khosq.com/en-us/article/2008/08/06/thousands_are_moving_to_yereva...
haven't read that for some time
Anonymous 10 weeks 1 day ago
Thanks Ani,
I haven't read that for some time. It looks like we are getting close.
BTW, Our 'Unzipped' http://unzipped.blogspot.com/ friend Mika has a healthy debate going on, which you might want to look in on?
Regards,
Bruce
I'd say, Yes, it's much better to keep the debate on
Կարեն Կարապետյան 10 weeks 15 hr ago
I'd say, Yes, it's much better to keep the debate on the original blog item, or else it's being disrespectful to the original author of the item. And that should be the general trend for most of the items submitted from Armenian blogosphere: try to keep the debate there.
Nevertheless, khosq.com's commenting system can also be very useful for dabating the linked articlcles from those Armenian newspapers that don't have or don't allow (or heavily moderate) commenting. Also khosq's commenting system is hierarchical (meaning that people can replay to each other and have a threaded conversation, rather than have all comments put into one continuous pile), which is pretty handy ;) In efffect, not counting the citizen-journalist open-publishing aspect of khosq, this is also a good way of finding what is most recommended news content from ArmNet (and Arm-related Web) -- the kind of material that is popularly recommended, as well as generally seeing how that article rates and how it is being debated within the khosq community.
Mika does a marvelous job - as do you
Bruce Tasker 10 weeks 2 hr ago
Garen,
Actually 'Unzipped' is not altogether the origin of this article, he picked it up from the new blog I have published for this Karabakh issue, http://thekarabakhdeal.blogspot.com/
It is not important where the debate takes place, and Mika does a marvelous job of managing and moderating his 'Unzipped' blog. The most important factor is that there is a debate, especially on such critical issues as Karabakh and Genocide. We are already seeing some results, and hopefully we can sufficiently influence the process, for the betterment of the people, rather than the regime, which normally takes ALL the benefits.
'Khosq' is a marvelous new community for Armenia, and I am sure the time will soon come when Armenians will be ready to come together as a community, rather than simply being 3 million individuals. (plus of course the Diaspora)
BTW Garen, I like your new features.
Moscow - Karabakh talks
Bruce Tasker 9 weeks 6 days ago
"Russia must repair its image in the Caucasus," said Alexei Malashenko, a political analyst with the Moscow Carnegie Centre. "The important thing for Russia is that it is seen to take the initiative."
But Malashenko said a quick resolution of the conflict would require concessions "at Armenia's cost" -- an unlikely scenario considering that Yerevan is Moscow's "strategic partner" in the Caucasus.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h0-tjpIb1WFR7uy3kWu9EqEhJQDg
Nalbandian Appears to tell the Truth - at Last!!
Bruce Tasker 9 weeks 3 days ago
Armenian Foreign Minister: "The status issue is principal and the initial cause in this conflict and in case the status of Nagorno Karabakh is defined the resolution of other issues will be facilitated"
But contrary to Serzh Sargsyan, who said the Madrid Principles are available to the public, Nalbandian nows says they are 'Confidential' - which of course we all knew.
http://www.today.az/news/politics/48632.html
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