“Cavusoglu will leave without giving his soul’s duty to the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem”

Is convinced the Head of the Armenian delegation to PACE, the head of the permanent NA committee on European integration Naira Zohrabyan

    –       After the January session of the PACE, when through the efforts of the Head of the Assembly Mevlut Cavusoglu the subcommittee on NK issue was reestablished, you addressed the French co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Bernard Fassier with a letter expecting the latter’s response to the Turkish-Azerbaijani endeavors of a deal to transfer the NK issue to other international scenes. By the way, why did you not apply to the Russian co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group?

–       By a simple reason, because the member of the delegation of the RF was not present at the January session of the PACE Bureau, and only the French representative Jean-Claude Mignon participated who just ignoring the main position of his country in Karabakh issue that the optimal mandate of the issue solution is the Minsk Group and any endeavor to transfer the issue to other scenes cannot contribute to the peaceful process of negotiations, did not try to stand for his country’s point of view in any way at the Bureau. Moreover, before the Bureau session began, I personally talked to Mignon and he promised that they will necessarily consider the acceptable judgments of the Armenian side and also agreed with me that any initiative in parallel with the Minsk Group would be problematic. However, at the Bureau session Mignon suddenly forgot his “position” and stood for the Turkish Chairman of the Assembly to revive that dead committee. So I decided to particularly apply to the French co-chair, in order the processes, that can disrupt the negotiation process that had reached a certain point, would not be undertaken. I am sure that even the Minsk Group is convinced that that subcommittee cannot contribute to the negotiation process.

–       The French co-chair in the OSCE Minsk Group Bernard Fassier answered your letter, and as I know he also expressed some anxiety about Cavusoglu’s initiative.

–       Naturally, I will not make his answer public completely without Fassier’s permission, however some of his notes are really interesting. Basically the Minsk Group co-chair also thinks that the reestablishment of that subcommittee is Cavusoglu’s personal initiative, and he writes, “I take into consideration the anxiety you have expressed that there is a danger that the above-mentioned committee works can intervene into the negotiations conducted by the OSCE Minsk Group, the co-chair office of which I hold from the French side. The reestablishment of that committee in 2011, as you know, is the PACE Chairman Mevlut Cavusoglu’s personal initiative and is just a result of a formal decision that aims at more political than directly practical ends.” Bernard Fassier confirms once again that the only acceptable format for the NK conflict is the Minsk Group, “Only the negotiations in the framework of this format which is acceptable for all the parties will allow reaching a negotiated political solution for this conflict”, says Fassier in his letter. I think everything is said quite clearly.

–       The PACE June session will begin soon. Is it possible that certain developments related to the NK subcommittee will take place at this session?

–       One thing is clear Mevlut Cavusoglu remained in his office till January, and it is not accidental that as a result of the Turkish-Azerbaijani deal, Jordi Costa who was “appointed” the head of that committee in one of his latest interviews said that before the end of the year the subcommittee has to present the PACE Bureau a resolution on the NK issue.  And what will the content of that resolution be, I think, is not a mystery for any of us. So the position of the Prosperous Armenia Party is clear in this issue, one must not participate in a process doomed to fail from the beginning. I think the whole delegation will preserve this position and I am almost convinced that Cavusoglu will leave in January without giving his soul’s duty to the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem.