YEREVAN.  – The head of Armenian delegation to OSCE PA Artashes Geghamyan commented on the statements on Karabakh conflict recently voiced in Baku.

“It is noteworthy that the Speaker of the Milli Mejlis Ogtay Asadov and OSCE PA President Ranko Krivokapic agreed on the fact that the Karabakh conflict must be based on the so-called 'OSCE Lisbon principles' voiced in December 1996 at the OSCE  summit and updated Madrid Principles.

It is noteworthy that the so-called Lisbon principles reflected a point, if I am not mistaken, the point number 20, which contained conditions for settlement that was unacceptable for the Armenian side. And this was the reason for vetoing this item by the then President of Armenia Levon Ter- Petrosyan. And we all know that the resolution on the OSCE summits are taken by consensus. Consequently, this item was removed from the Lisbon resolution.

In response to the application by the Armenian President's veto, the then-President Heydar Aliyev in response vetoed the entire resolution. Consequently, 'the Lisbon principles' do not exist as a document, since they were not adopted. In this respect, it is surprising that the incumbent President of the OSCE PA Ranko Krivokapic was not notified. To put it simply, Azerbaijani counterparts deceived him. Naturally, this can not be a cause for gloating on our part. The Armenian delegation to OSCE PA respects the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ranko Krivokapic and expresses its regret at the fact that he is unaware of possible deceit by Azerbaijani side,” Geghamyan said in a statement.

According to the Azerbaijani media , President of the OSCE PA  during his trip to Baku said that “there are Lisbon and Madrid principles for the settlement of Karabakh conflict as well as UN resolutions and relevant documents adopted by other international organizations”.