Expert: When assessing the issue of cession of Artsakh territories,  one should clearly know its diplomatic implication   

ArmInfo. When assessing the issue of cession of Artsakh territories, one should clearly know its diplomatic implication and have an opportunity to familiarize oneself with all the diplomatic arrangements around the issue, says Raffi Galfayan (France), an expert in international law.  

He says that the problem of territories is rather a delicate issue  and the recent statement of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs' foreign  ministers that points at this issue without mentioning the problem of  final determination of Nagorno-Karabakh's legal status raises  concerns, of course.      

The statement says that the Heads of Delegation of the OSCE Minsk  Group Co-Chair Countries remain fully committed to a negotiated  settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. They also call on Baku  and Yerevan to honor the agreements reflected in the Joint Statements  of the 16 May Summit in Vienna and the 20 June Summit in St.  Petersburg.

The expert thinks that the statement of the foreign ministers of  France, Russia and the United States used rather acute language  apparently to exert pressure on the conflicting parties. At the same  time, Galfayan believes that the implication of the statement is more  addressed to the Armenian parties. He is also convinced that the  solution proposed by the Co-Chairs in their latest statement lacks a  balance.      

The statement of the Heads of Delegation of the OSCE Minsk Group  Co-Chair Countries reads, "We remind the sides that the settlement  must be based on the core principles of the Helsinki Final Act,  namely: non-use of force, territorial integrity, and the equal rights  and self- determination of peoples, and additional elements as  proposed by the Presidents of the Co-Chair countries, including  return of the territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani  control; an interim status for Nagorno- Karabakh providing guarantees  for security and self- governance; a corridor linking Armenia to  Nagorno-Karabakh; future determination of the final legal status of  Nagorno-Karabakh through a legally binding expression of will; the  right of all internally displaced persons and refugees to return to  their former places of residence; and international security  guarantees that would include a peacekeeping operation."