Azerbaijan president says road connections with Armenia could be restored
with pullout from areas around Nagorno-Karabakh

AP Online
May 11, 2004

President Ilham Aliev said Tuesday that Azerbaijan intends to discuss
with Armenia the prospect of restoring road connections between
the countries in exchange for Armenian forces pulling out of areas
bordering Nagorno-Karabakh.

Aliev made the statement on the even of the 10th anniversary of the
cease-fire that ended fighting over the enclave but that left its
political status unresolved.

Nagorno-Karabakh is an ethnic Armenian region within Azerbaijan. It
has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces since 1994 and
these forces also occupy several sectors of Azerbaijan that flank
Nagorno-Karabakh proper.

Aliev said the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia are to
discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh issue Wednesday at a session of the
foreign ministers of Council of Europe member countries.

“We will exchange opinions on the possibility of liberating seven
regions of Azerbaijan in exchange for opening transport communications
with Armenia,” he said.

The closure of the countries’ border has stifled economic
development in both former Soviet states and the failure to resolve
Nagorno-Karabakh’s status has discouraged foreign investors who fear
the countries could go to war again.

“The occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and the regions around it are
the biggest problem and danger both for Azerbaijan and for the entire
region,” Aliev said.