Kapinos holds a different opinion
Head of the OSCE Yerevan Office Sergey Kapinos today refuted the statement of Goran Lenmarker, Special Representative of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly for Nagorno Karabakh, who said Nagorno-Karabakh should not be engaged in the talks as a conflicting side.
At first Kapinos said Lenmarker could not have made such a statement. After A1+ quoted Lenmarker's words, Mr. Kapinos said: "The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is not entitled to deal with the Karabakh conflict settlement. The OSCE Minsk group and special representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office Andrzej Kasprzyk handle all issues concerning Nagorno-Karabakh."
Sergey Kapinos spoke about the talks over the Karabakh issue as a "side expert".
"In the initial stage of the settlement process, Nagorno-Karabakh participated in the negotiations. In 1994 Nagorno-Karabakh's representative signed the contract on ceasefire," said Mr. Kapinos.
according to Mr. Kapinos, in his statement Lenmarker probably meant that Karabakh's ex-president Robert Kocharyan later found it expedient to represent the interests of the Republic of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabkh at a time.
"I think in order to reach final results Karabakh should be involved in the negotiations. How could the conflict be settled without Karabakh? At some point Nagorno-Karabakh will surely join the process."
He doesn't think that some other parties except Karabakh will be engaged in the talks. "Minsk Group hasn't exhausted itself. Many believed last year that the sides had neared the settlement but no agreement was ever reached."
Today Kapinos presented Armenian journalists the results of the 10 -year activity of the OSCE Yerevan Office.
He says the judicial system is the most vulnerable in Armenia. "There is no lack of laws but a lack of their application."
Today Kapinos neither denied nor confirmed that he had been reproached by his superiors for presenting the current situation in Armenia improperly. He refrained from using the phrase "political prisoner" stating that the phrase has no legal interpretation in the European legislation.
In his report Mr.Kapinos presented the opposition representatives confined for the events of March 1, 2008 as criminal prisoners. "If there are people who have complaints in view of these cases, they can appeal to all instances including the European Court of Human Rights."
Asked how he evaluates the fact that the ten death cases of March 1 haven't been revealed to date and if he thinks that the Armenian authorities wish to reveal them, Kapinos said, "OSCE PA representatives have raised these questions here, in Armenia. The questions should be addressed to legal bodies."
