Question: On November 23, a meeting of the PACE Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development will take place, where the process of preparation of the report on Sarsang reservoir may be discussed. Is a visit of the PACE Rapporteur to the NKR expected in this regard?

 

 

Answer: On November 16, we received a letter from the Director General of the PACE Secretariat, Mario Martins, containing a request to facilitate the visit to the NKR of the PACE Rapporteur on the Sarsang reservoir, Milica Markovic.

 

In our response letter, it was noted that despite some serious reservations and remarks on our side regarding the title of the report and the overall process of its preparation, the NKR authorities stood ready to cooperate with the PACE.

 

In the meantime, we conveyed our strong opposition to any attempt to politicize the issue of Sarsang Reservoir. It is our strong belief that the status of Nagorno Karabakh, as well as different aspects of the conflict dealt with by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship (which is the only internationally mandated and mutually agreed format) should not become a subject of the report. The same approach is also shared by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs in their statement of November 12, 2015, which reads that “considering the sensitivity of the negotiations, any attempts to change the format or create parallel mechanisms can disrupt the negotiation process and impede the progress towards a settlement…”.

 

We hope that the readiness of the NKR to cooperate will be perceived by Milica Markovic with all responsibility to prepare a report, based on the principles of impartiality and neutrality.

 

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE NAGORNO KARABAKH REPUBLIC

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