Bernard Fassier
During the last visit of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmen to Khankendi, French mediator Bernard Fassier, answering the journalists' questions, stated that «...we crossed the contact-line and not the border».
French Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Bernard Fassier rightly observed that the contact line is not a border, Eduard Sharmazanov, Press Secretary of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) parliamentary faction, told NEWS.am. Mr. Fassiers’ statement means that, while crossing the contact line, the mediators underlined it was not the border.
“Of course, the contact line is not the border, as Nagorno-Karabakh territory is on the opposite side as well, but that territory is occupied by Azerbaijan,” Sharmazanov said. He does not rule out that the French Co-Chair diplomatically hinted that the Azerbaijan-occupied territories must sooner or later be retuned to Nagorno-Karabakh.
On September 9, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, Igor Popov (Russia), Robert Bradtke (USA), and Bernard Fassier (France) arrived in Yerevan. The mediators met with Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian. The current situation in the Karabakh peace process was the focus at the meeting.
Nagorno-Karabakh’s participation in the peace process is necessary and can greatly facilitate the resolution of the problem, RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian stated.
The press service of the RA foreign office informed NEWS.am that the co-chairs presented the results of their meetings in Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan to Minister Nalbandian.
The sides touched on the provocations on the contact line between the Karabakh and Azerbaijani armed forces. They also discussed their possible impact on the negotiations and on the situation in the conflict zone. The sides discussed plans to continue negotiations on the basis of Madrid principles.
As NEWS.am reported previously, the mediators had arrived in Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh. The Co-Chairs, as well as Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk crossed the contact line. Following the results of the visit, the mediators will issue a joint statement.
Before starting the visit to the South Caucasus, the MG Co-Chairs made a joint statement, urging all parties to respect strictly the cease-fire and to exercise restraint on the ground, to make every effort to foster the spirit of compromise necessary to make progress, to abstain from inflammatory public statements, and to demonstrate the convincing political will to engage in serious dialogue.
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