{"id":13068,"date":"2017-08-24T17:30:27","date_gmt":"2017-08-24T17:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ancnews.info\/?p=13068"},"modified":"2017-08-24T17:30:27","modified_gmt":"2017-08-24T17:30:27","slug":"anca-blasts-outgoing-minsk-group-co-chair-ambassador-hoaglands-lopsided-recommendations-for-artsakh-peace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ancnews.info\/?p=13068","title":{"rendered":"ANCA Blasts Outgoing Minsk Group Co-Chair Ambassador Hoagland\u2019s Lopsided Recommendations for Artsakh Peace"},"content":{"rendered":"

(ARMENIAN WEEKLY)\u2014The Armenian National Committee of America<\/a> (ANCA) has blasted the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group interim U.S. Co-Chair Ambassador Richard Hoagland\u2019s recommendations for the Nagorno-Karabagh (Artsakh) peace process, calling them \u201ctotally unacceptable\u201d and a \u201cnon-starter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoagland held an on-the-record round table discussion regarding the peace settlement at the Foreign Press Center in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 23. During the discussion, the Ambassador presented his six main points\u2014adapted from the Madrid Principles\u2014for the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict settlement, according to Voice of America\u2019s (VOA) Armenian service. (See text below.)<\/p>\n

The six points included a call for the \u201coccupied territories\u201d surrounding Nagorno-Karabagh to be returned to Azerbaijani control.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere can be no settlement without respect for Azerbaijan\u2019s sovereignty, and the recognition that its sovereignty over these territories must be restored,\u201d Hoagland said, according to VOA.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a long-term policy, it\u2019s not connected with this or that co-chair, this is our general policy. Of course, the proposed project is more detailed and extensive, but this is the basis of any reasonable solution, and all parties agree on this issue,\u201d Hoagland added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Administration is tossing out another reckless recipe for Artsakh\u2019s destruction, expecting, it seems, that we don\u2019t understand Armenian history, that we lack 100% solidarity with Artsakh, and that we have no sense at all of our geo-political interests. In a word, that we are idiots. Totally unacceptable. A non-starter,\u201d said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA in his comments to the Armenian Weekly.<\/p>\n

Hamparian went on to say that the \u201clight rewrite\u201d of the unbalanced Madrid Principles heavily rewards an \u201cincreasingly aggressive Azerbaijan\u201d and puts all the risks on the Republic of Artsakh.<\/p>\n

During the round table, Hoagland announced that beginning Aug. 28 the new OSCE Minsk Group U.S. Co-Chair will be Andrew J. Schofer, who, until recently, served as U.S. Representative to the Vienna Office of the United Nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and other international organizations in Vienna.<\/p>\n

\u201cSadly, rather than empowering incoming OSCE Europe Minsk Group U.S. Co-Chair Andrew Schofer, the Administration has handicapped him from the start with a fatally flawed framework, one that runs counter to our American values and undermines our national interest in a durable and democratic peace,\u201d Hamparian added in comments made on ANCA\u2019s official Facebook page.<\/p>\n

Hamparian offered an in-depth overview of the flawed Madrid principles in a Facebook Live video, outlining concerns regarding each of the six points:<\/p>\n