Monday, June 27 2016 04:07

 Armenian Parliament Vice Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov believes that the OSCE Minsk Group should react very strongly to the Azerbaijani president's refusal to implement the Vienna and St. Petersburg arrangements to introducing mechanisms to inquire into incident on the Line of Contact. 

Talking to ArmInfo, Sharmazanov said: "By such statement, Aliyev has once again demonstrated that he is imitating the talks and, in fact, he is trying to gain time to launch another military attack," he said.

As for Aliyev's arguments that the final statement after the St. Petersburg meeting did not contain a point on the investigative mechanisms, Sharmazanov said it was Baku's trick. "If Aliyev reads the St. Petersburg document more attentively, he will see there a reference to the Vienna arrangements that clearly mention the implementation of confidence-building measures," he said.

As for Aliyev's statement that Nagorno Karabakh will never be independent, the vice speaker said it is not upon Azerbaijan to decide that.  The people of Karabakh have the right to decide their own faith like any other people. 

"Why can the Scottish people hold a referendum to gain independence from Great Britain, but the Karabakh people can't?" Sharmazanov asked rhetorically.  A few days ago, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said at the meeting with servicemen that the issue should be resolved within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. "Nagorno-Karabakh will never get independence; and second Armenian state will not be created on the historical lands of Azerbaijan. This is the main question. As for the status of Nagorno Karabakh is a matter of the future. Of course, a certain status can be granted. As a part of Azerbaijan, have the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. In Europe and other countries have a progressive experience and different statuses. However, this status should not violate the territorial integrity of our state," he said. 

As for the mechanism to investigate incidents, the president of Azerbaijani said there is no need for it at this stage. "Firstly, these arrangements do not exist. No one specifically says us what these will consist of. In this case, consider this question today would be wrong. Secondly, what is its meaning? If it is meant "freezing" of the conflict and the adoption of any additional measures in the line of contact, Azerbaijan, of course, will not do it. This can be in the continuation of positive dynamics in the negotiation process, so that we see concrete results, so we know the terms of liberation of our territories - in this case can be developed various mechanisms, only in that case this issue can be considered".

Earlier, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs have released a statement, which says, "The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassadors Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, James Warlick of the United States of America, and Pierre Andrieu of France) call on the sides to honour the agreements which were reflected in the Joint Statements of the 16 May summit in Vienna and the 20 June summit in St.  Petersburg." "We urge Azerbaijan and Armenia to remove all remaining obstacles to expanding the mission of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk.  We also urge progress in substantive talks and on a proposal to establish an OSCE investigative mechanism. We will continue our engagement with the sides to advance all of these outcomes from the last two meetings between the Presidents," says the statement posted on the OSCE's official website.  To note, in Vienna, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev reiterated their commitment to the ceasefire and the peaceful settlement of the conflict. To reduce the risk of further violence, they agreed to finalize in the shortest possible time an OSCE investigative mechanism. The Presidents also agreed to the expansion of the existing Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson in Office.  However, right after the Vienna meeting, Baku stated that it did not sign the joint document. Nevertheless, during the meeting in St.  Petersburg, the provision about expansion of the OSCE CiO Personal Representative's office was reaffirmed, however, the provision about investigative mechanisms was not made a point of. Unlike the Vienna meeting, the results of the St.  Petersburg meeting were welcomed by not only Yerevan, but also Baku.