March 10, 2008 - 18:46 AMT
Dov Lynch never drew parallels between Kosovo and Karabakh
Dov Lynch, the senior adviser to the OSCE's Secretary General, said today he had been misquoted by Azerbaijani media after making a speech in a personal capacity a NATO Parliamentary Assembly meeting in Baku.

"In his speech yesterday (6 March) on developments in the South Caucasus, Lynch had said that "wider developments may impact on regional security". He referred to "interpretations of the so-called Kosovo 'precedent' as a case in point, despite declarations that the Kosovo case is sue generic". Lynch said in the speech that "certainly, developments in the Western Balkans may mean that there is simply less time and attention given to the South Caucasus by external actors". Statements reported by several Azerbaijani news agencies and newspapers misrepresented the comments by Lynch, mistakenly saying he had drawn a parallel between Kosovo and the Nagorno Karabakh conflicts," says a statement PanARMENIAN.Net received from the office of the OSCE's Secretary General.

"It is disappointing my remarks were misrepresented," Lynch said.

On March 6, the Azeri Press Agency said that addressing a Rose Roth seminar in Baku, Dov Lynch stated that "despite distinctions, Kosovo can set precedent for the Nagorno Karabakh conflict."