On August 8, Azerbaijani 1news.az source published a large article under “Did Bryza say so?” head. The author, Vugar Seidov, queried OSCE MG Co-Chair Matthew Bryza’s statement on Karabakh conflict settlement. The information issued by NEWS.am was referring to the competent Russian “Kommersant” daily, as well as REGNUM Russian news agency.

Distrustful questions of Mr. Seidov recall the following Co-Chair’s quotation: “The principle of territorial integrity will be reflected in the return of 7 territories to Azerbaijan, with immediate return of 5, the rest two will be returned in 5 years or later.” In the essence, the author queries the statement, suspecting NEWS.am of resorting to ‘cunning’. Mr. Seidov supposes we passed off own opinion as quote of the official representative of the U.S. Department of State.

To assuage doubts of Azerbaijani author, we literally quote Matthew Bryza’s statement: "… The principle of territorial integrity will be reflected in a return of territories to Azerbaijan with 7 territories of surrounding NK. These territories will be returned in a stages way that President Aliyev described in July on public television – with several 5 or 6 territories be returned immediately and one or two, or part of one or another territory returned with some delay – maybe 5 years, maybe another number of years. So we will also take care of the principle of territorial integrity with a return of these territories to Azerbaijan, when the final legal status of NK to be determined at some point – I can’t say when, or we can’t say when today at point when the parties all agree – through vote… "

Thus, obviously, the mechanism of NKR status determination and ensuring of Azerbaijan territorial integrity are clearly differentiated by the mediators. The possibility of Karabakh’s return under Azerbaijani control as the guarantor of its territorial integrity is not discussed at the negotiation table.

The full speech of Matthew Bryza delivered in Tsakhkadzor will be published by NEWS.am. shortly. We hope inquisitive Azerbaijani and Armenian journalists will succeed in finding a large number of interesting emphasizes in it. Through analysis they might form a clear view of the OSCE MG Co-chairs efforts and probable consequences of their mediation attempts.