YEREVAN (Yerkir)–National Assembly Vice Speaker Vahan Hovhannisian rebuffed reports in the Armenian press that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has raised the issue of returning "occupied territories," to Azerbaijan.
Hovhannisian–who heads the Armenian delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly–told a news conference on Monday that OSCE rapporteur Goran Lennmarker’s draft report on the Karabagh makes no mention of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.
"During his meeting with the Armenian and Azeri delegations–Lennmarker addressed all of the occupied territories–including parts of the Shahumian and Martuni districts under the Azeri occupation–but in the context of de-mining and eliminating of other hurdles for the return of residents," clarified Hovhannisian.
"In fact," explained Hovhannisian–"the Azeris were seriously concerned that the document did not make mention of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity."
The document apparently does not address the issue of Mountainous Karabagh Republic’s status–concentrating instead–on its security.
Hovhannisian revealed that the Armenian delegation managed to thwart Azeri attempts to include a section in the resolution–that recognizes "uncontrolled territories" are a haven for drug and weapons trafficking.