According
to the report of the monitoring group of honouring commitments of CoE commission
of Ministers the RA President Robert Kocharian insisted on this.A part
of this 5th Progress report under the chairmanship of ambassador Roland Wegener
refers to Armenia, another part refers to Azerbaijan and there is a separate mentioning
on Nagorno-Karabakh. It is mentioned in this chapter that the prospect of a solution
to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict seems no nearer, mainly because of changed circumstances:
while Armenia has not been in a hurry to reach a solution, Azerbaijan seems no
longer in a hurry either: "Armenia appears satisfied with the current situation-
de facto independence for Nagorno-Karabakh and superiority on the ground, with
seven regions of Azerbaijan occupied. Azerbaijan considers that the more time
passes, the more the country will develop, the richer it will become and the clearer
the contrast will be with its neighbour." According to this report the monitoring
group of the Ministers’ committee has stressed that the Council of Europe sees
the peaceful solution to the conflict as an undertaking common to both countries,
and one that the Committee of Ministers was monitoring in the same way as the
other commitments both this countries haven’t honoured yet: " and as long
as this commitment was not honoured the monitoring procedure could not be brought
to an end." The delegation has also pointed out that the lack of a solution
to the conflict would not relieve either Armenia and Azerbaijan of the need to
continue with internal democratic reform: " and on the contrary, progress
in this area was bound to favour a settlement." The Armenian and Azerbaijani
sides presented their various appraisals on the negotiating process to the delegation
under Roland Wegener’s chairmanship. According to the report both parties considered
the discussions in Astana useful but the Armenians, according to the Azerbaijanis,
replied to the proposals after two months’ silence: "The Armenians on the
other hand maintained that they were about to respond favourably to the Astana
proposals when Azerbaijan’s initiative in putting the question of the settlement
of the occupied territories on the United Nation’s General Assembly Agenda apparently
called everything into question." Robert Kocharian’s words are cited in the
report according to which this initiative is designed to confuse the negotiations
and that it undermines the negotiating mandate he himself received from the Nagorno-Karabakh
authorities. He is therefore insisting on involving Nagorno-Karabakh in the discussions
failing which he will break off negotiations during the meeting with the delegation
of CoE committee of Ministers. But according to the report "president Aliev
said that it was not a political initiative designed to increase the number of
negotiating fora, but a precautionary humanitarian measure prompted by the lack
of progress with the negotiations and the fact that in the meantime Armenians
were settling in the Azerbaijani territories."According to the report
the delegation reminded both parties that the time was not on either party’s side
for the persistence of the conflict was seriously hindering the development of
both countries and indeed the region as a whole. " After years of hostility,
it was now necessary to wipe the slate clean and have the courage to make peace.
Whether they liked it or not, the fate of both countries was linked and it was
only together and in peace, that they would each find their rightful place in
the European institutions."According to the report of monitoring group
the representatives of the commission of Ministers made a decision during the
912th meeting on 19 January which regards both Armenia and Azerbaijan. In particular
both countries are called to make more efforts to reach the peaceful settlement
of Nagorno-Karabakh according to those commitments they honoured the CoE committee
of Ministers and PACE. We must remind once more that this monitoring group will
produce next report in Summer 2005.Anna Israelian
