The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassadors Bernard Fassier of France, Yury Merzlyakov of Russia, and Matthew Bryza of the United States, have issued a statement regarding 10 December referendum in Nagorno-Karabakh, Trend reports with reference to the information of OSCE.
The statement says that the co-chairs do not believe that such a ''referendum'' will contribute to a negotiated settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Any future legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh should be determined without the threat or use of force and only as the result of political negotiations between all parties in the framework of the Minsk process. Conducting such a referendum now, thus preempting the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh, rather than forging a compromise is particularly unhelpful at a moment when the OSCE Minsk group-mediated negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan appear to be on a constructive path. The co-chairs expect that the results of this referendum, which are not internationally recognized, will have no negative effect on continuing prospects for an agreement between the sides on basic principles for the settlement of the conflict,'' mentioned in the statement.