Armenia must withdraw from Azeri lands – Uzbek president

Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
23 Mar 04

[Presenter Namiq Aliyev] Nagornyy Karabakh is an integral part of
independent Azerbaijan as was the case in Soviet times, Uzbek
President Islam Karimov has told a joint news conference with
[Azerbaijani President] Ilham Aliyev. Armenia must unconditionally
withdraw from the occupied lands, Karimov said. He added that the
stage-by-stage option for the settlement of the problem was more
expedient.

[ATV correspondent Etibar Mammadov on the phone] There are a number of
reasons behind the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. One of them was
Gorbachev and his team, Karimov said in answer to a question from our
ATV correspondent. Mr Karimov added that Gorbachev, who had done
nothing to prevent this problem, was still responsible. On the other
hand, Karimov stressed that the principle of maintaining Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity must be a priority in the settlement of the
problem and only after that, should other issues be settled.

I see no prospects for the package option for settling the conflict,
Karimov said. He added that the stage-by-stage option for the
settlement of the problem was more expedient. According to Karimov,
although Armenia may not be pleased with his words, withdrawal from
the occupied lands is the first and necessary move. Karimov said that
Armenia has to be interested in withdrawing from the lands, lifting
the blockade of the railway on the occupied territories and returning
the refugees to their lands. Mr Karimov added that the status of
Nagornyy Karabakh and other issues could be settled only after this.

[Passage omitted: Reported details of Aliyev’s visit to Uzbekistan]