Karabakh Conflict Settlement Process in the Center of Attention of Youth

• 12.15.2015, 20:38
•  Armenia

The process of negotiations of Karabakh conflict settlement, the agenda of the meeting of the presidents and tense situation on the borders on the eve – these were the topics discussed during the training in the framework of  "The Voice of Youth 4. New Season" project that took place in the city of Stepanavan.

During the meeting the process of negotiations on Karabakh conflict settlement, the settlement packages put on the table during different stages of negotiations and their differences were presented. The current stage of negotiation process, confidence-building measures and the policies of the parties were also discussed. The participants also paid attention to the expectations from Sargsyan-Aliyev meeting in Bern and in parallel to that the increase of tension on the borders.

The participants were given an opportunity to get acquainted with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ last few statements, to highlight and discuss the main parts in them, based on them make analysis of the current stage of the negotiation process and its content.

The participants noted that in the recent statements of the Co-Chairs certain tendency of differentiated approach is seen, particularly, it is mentioned in the statements that Armenia has given its consent for investigation mechanisms of border incidents, whereas Azerbaijan - not. At the same time the negative effects of artificial balancing by the Co-Chairs on the negotiation process and on the conflict settlement process in general were discussed.  

During the discussion the participants also referred to approach of the sides on status-quo and its causes. A separate topic of discussion was the usage of right terminology referring to conflict, as well as the need of deeper knowledge of conflict settlement process among the society, etc.

During the discussion, the participants were given an opportunity, based on the discussion, to give their suggestions on the promotion of negotiation process, restoration of trust between the sides and on contributing to the establishment of contacts between societies.

The participants assessed highly the effectiveness of the meeting, they emphasized that they got new information and knowledge, expressed their wish to continue participating in similar projects and stressed the need to increase the number of such projects in the regions.

It should be noted that "The Voice of Youth 4. New Season" project is being implemented by NGO "European Integration" with the support of the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs of the RA. The aim of the project is to increase the involvement of youth, students, young politicians, economists, journalists in the discussions of foreign policy issues, raise the level of their awareness and to generate new ideas and proposals.