Wednesday, May 18 2016 07:39

The Vienna arrangement of the Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents, Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev, to create mechanisms to investigate the incidents along the line of contact may fail if the parties do not propose mutually acceptable specific mechanisms, Head of ARFD Bureau's Hay Dat and Political Affairs Office Kiro Manoyan said at a press conference in Yerevan on May 18.  

The Presidents agreed to finalize in the shortest possible time an OSCE investigative mechanism, however, they have not decided yet what measures will be implemented; so, they may fail the process, Manoyan said.  Manoyan is not optimistic about the further process, given the previous experience of the talks with Azerbaijan and the latter's changeable behavior.  Manoyan also thinks that Armenia and Artsakh should not wait for the Sargsyan-Aliyev meeting in June.  "It is necessary to sign the agreement on mutual military support, which was spoken about during the April escalation. Otherwise, the international community will not take us seriously," he said. Manoyan thinks that the Armenian Parliament's decision not to include the bill on recognition of Artsakh's independence in the major agenda was wrong. "No one will read the reasons of the rejection, but this may make other countries refuse to recognize Artsakh," he stressed. 

To note, on May 16 the Armenian and Azerbaijani President met in Vienna in the presence of Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov, Secretary of State of the United States of America John Kerry, and State Secretary for European Affairs of France Harlem Desir, representing the co- chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group. "They reiterated that there can be no military solution to the conflict. The Co-Chairs insisted on the importance of respecting the 1994 and 1995 ceasefire agreements.

 The Presidents 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.  Finally, they agreed to continue the exchange of data on missing persons under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to which the Presidents committed during the Paris summit of October 2014. The Presidents agreed on a next round of talks, to be held in June at a place to be mutually agreed, with an aim to resuming negotiations on a comprehensive settlement," the OSCE Minsk Group's statement says.