Matthew Bryza: "Return of refugees is always among the main issues in the resolution of the Karabakh conflict"

He said Nagorno Karabakh was once a party to the process, yet then "the negotiation format was changed" and this did not depend on the mediators".

He noted that at the current stage the mediators inform about the negotiation process both the Nagorno Karabakh leadership and the leadership of Azerbaijani community.

In turn, Russian co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Yuri Merzlyakov noted that before 1998 the talks had been held differently and there had been no meetings on the high level. He said the issue of Nagorno Karabakh's participation in talks must be settlement on the level of presidents.

The co-chairs also touched upon the issue of refugees and IDP during the active phase of the Karabakh conflict, in particular, US mediator Matthew Bryza said that the return of refugees is also among the main issues in the resolution of any conflict, including Nagorno Karabakh. "These people have rights regardless of nationality", noted he.

The mediators informed that from Yerevan they intend to visit Baku to discuss a number of issues including the meeting of presidents in the coming months with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. At the same time the diplomats did not specify the possible date of the meeting.

/Regnum/