OSCE secretary-general: Turkey could play a role in Karabakh conflict

The newly elected secretary-general of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said on Tuesday that Turkey could play an important role in the decades-long conflict in the disputed area of Nagorno-Karabakh.

OSCE Secretary-General Lamberto Zannier, in an exclusive interview with Today’s Zaman during the sixth trilateral summit between Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan, said: “Turkey is an important player in the region. It has a political contribution to offer.” In the early 1990s, Nagorno-Karabakh (predominantly populated by ethnic Armenians) and seven adjacent regions (without any Armenian populations), which were an integral part of Azerbaijan, became occupied by neighboring country Armenia.
The historic conflict is especially important to Turkey in its relations with neighbors Azerbaijan and Armenia. The current stalemate is nothing new — the OSCE Minsk Group has been working to facilitate negotiations since 1994 but to no avail. “I am stating a fact — it [progress] is not happening. Something is missing,” said Zannier.

According to Zannier, Turkey’s involvement need not be an official one. “I am not talking about a formal role in the negotiations, but in real terms. Turkey is bordering both countries involved in the conflict,” he said.

Zannier, emphasizing the importance of dialogue in solving any conflict, ventured, “My very personal view is that Turkey needs to create conditions to promote dialogue on both sides.”

But how Turkey goes about this specifically is “Turkey’s call,” Zannier added. “I am not saying we have a monopoly, but why shouldn’t it be the OSCE? It is a regional organization that deals with security issues. There is a debate that we should move the issues somewhere else but I am not convinced that moving it elsewhere would solve the problem. There is nothing wrong with the organization dealing with the problem. The problem is the substance of the issue,” he said in response to criticisms of the OSCE’s handling of the conflict.

While the OSCE is doing the best it can, Zannier said it is up to the parties involved in the conflict to step up to the plate. Zannier stressed there must be political will on behalf of the parties to end the historic conflict. “What I said this morning was there is a lot of focus on the mechanism, but there is also an issue of whether the parties are ready to make a deal,” he said.

While Zannier said that the mechanism could perhaps be improved, he also emphasized that in the end the power lies with the member countries. “You can lead a horse to water but you cannot force the horse to drink. It is a bit the same. We are trying to create the necessary conditions in the meantime. We are trying to manage the situation on the ground, but the situation becomes problematic in security terms,” he said. The next step, according to the OSCE secretary general, is ensuring the problem does not escalate further. “[In general,] if we cannot line up all of the conditions and solve the conflict, then the next best thing we can do is manage the problem so it does not grow worse. So that is our next step. It is up to everyone to keep making efforts from different angles,” he stressed.

Source: http://www.todayszaman.com/news-261659-osce-secretary-general-turkey-could-play-a-role-in-karabakh-conflict.html

Posted by admin November 2011

Post A Comment

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website