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“A PERMANENT NEGOTIATOR TO FACILITATE DIRECT TALKS ON NAGORNO KARABAGH MUST BE APPOINTED” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H6428 on July 27, 1999.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
A PERMANENT NEGOTIATOR TO FACILITATE DIRECT TALKS ON NAGORNO KARABAGH
MUST BE APPOINTED
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 19, 1999, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) is recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, the foreign operations appropriations bill, which this House is expected to begin debating later this week, contains an important provision that is extremely timely and deserves our support. Language in the foreign ops legislation addresses the need for a negotiated settlement to the Nagorno Karabagh conflict; noting that the important position of special negotiator for Nagorno Karabagh and NIS, the Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union, regional conflicts is currently vacant.
The Committee on Appropriations urged the Secretary of State to move forthwith to appoint a permanent special negotiator to facilitate direct negotiations and any other contacts that will bring peace to the long suffering people of the South Caucasus.
Madam Speaker, Nagorno Karabagh is an historically Armenian populated region that declared its independence as the Soviet Union was breaking up. The neighboring Republic of Azerbaijan, which claims Nagorno Karabagh as part of its own territory, went to war to prevent Karabagh, known to the Armenian people as Artsakh, from achieving its independence.
The people of Karabagh prevailed in battle and Azerbaijan agreed to a cease-fire in 1994 but, Madam Speaker, a permanent negotiated settlement acceptable to all sides has been elusive.
The U.S. has played a leading role in the effort to resolve this conflict, as a co-chair of the Minsk Group, under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
The U.S. has had three of our diplomats serve in the post of special negotiator to try to resolve this conflict.
Madam Speaker, the position of special negotiator recently became vacant with the departure of Donald Keyser, a career diplomat who moved on to another post in the State Department. Mr. Keyser, our third special negotiator, played a major role in shaping a new plan to settle the conflict, known as the Common State proposal.
Despite their substantial reservations, both Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh agreed to the Common State proposal as a basis for negotiations. Unfortunately, Azerbaijan flatly rejected this proposal.
Mr. Keyser worked very hard to move this process forward, so his departure leaves a major void. At this critical juncture, we must get another permanent special negotiator in place without delay, preferably either a very senior diplomat or perhaps another American recognized for leadership in public policy and public life, someone who can command the respect necessary to win the confidence of all parties to the conflict.
To echo and amplify the language in the foreign ops bill, I will be circulating amongst our colleagues here a letter to President Clinton and Secretary Albright urging that they move to appoint a special negotiator immediately.
Madam Speaker, two weeks ago Armenia's ambassador to the United States, Ambassador Rouben Shugarian, came to Capitol Hill to brief Members of Congress and our staff about the Nagorno Karabagh peace process, and one of the most positive developments of late has been the increase in direct contacts between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan. The presidents of the two countries recently met privately in Geneva.
The surprise announcement that came out of the meeting was a tentative agreement to have Nagorno Karabagh participate directly in the next session of face-to-face talks. While it may be too soon to talk of a breakthrough, Armenian President Kocharian stated that he believes Azerbaijan's President Heydar Aliyev is serious about achieving a solution to the Karabagh conflict. Ambassador Shugarian spoke at our recent meeting with cautious optimism about other avenues for direct talks, and it is important for this process to continue and indeed to be accelerated as much as possible.
That is why today I want to stress that the presence of a permanent U.S. special negotiator to facilitate direct negotiations and other contacts is extremely important at this time. I urge the administration to act quickly to appoint a new and permanent special negotiator.
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