Azer Tag, Azerbaijan
April 22 2004
ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN, NAGORNY KARABAKH CONFLICT SHOULD BE SETTLED ON
THE BASE OF THE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL NORMS
PRESIDENT OF AZERBAIJAN ILHAM ALIYEV RECEIVES THE US CO-CHAIR OF THE
OSCE MINSK GROUP
[April 22, 2004, 18:04:27]
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received U.S.
co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Mr. Steven Mann at the Presidential
Palace, April 22.
President Ilham Aliyev congratulated the diplomat on the new
appointment and wished him every success in this office. He noted as
well that Mr. Mann is well known in Azerbaijan as a direct
participator in the large-scale projects implemented in the country.
Your related activities were very positive and successful. I am well
aware of this personally as we were working together. The regionally
important Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan project is being successfully realized,
and I hope your activity in this new office will also be a success,
said the Head of State.
President Ilham Aliyev further stressed the large threat the
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorny Karabakh poses to the
regional stability, and noted that Azerbaijan wants the problem to be
settled in the framework of the international legal norms as soon as
possible. `Nagorny Karabakh and 7 other regions of Azerbaijan has
been under occupation for many years; our fair demand is to put an
end to the occupation and restore our territorial integrity. I hope
the Minsk group will continue its activities as a result of which the
problem will be finally solved,’ Mr. Ilham Aliyev said.
Having expressed his satisfaction with this visit to Baku and the
opportunity to meet President Ilham Aliyev, Mr. Steven Mann reminded
on his participation in the ceremony of laying foundation of the
East-West energy corridor held in the Azerbaijan capital, and
emphasized that it is exactly the place, where all the rest of energy
projects start.
Touching upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Mr.
Steven Mann announced the new tasks set to him by the U.S. Government
that he was going to fulfill: to work with the conflicting parties
and achieve fair resolution of the problem.
In conclusion, Mr. Steven Mann thanked President of Azerbaijan Ilham
Aliyev for the warm meeting.
The meeting was attended by Chief of the Presidential
Administration’s Foreign Relations Department Mr. Novruz Mammadov and
U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mr. Reno Harnish.