BAKU TODAY
May 14 2004

Oskanian: The Idea To Withdraw From Seven Districts Is Absurd And
Meaningless

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian on Thursday deemed the
idea of withdrawal from Azerbaijan’s seven occupied districts “absurd
and meaningless.”

Oskanian’s Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov came up with a
suggestion during their 13 May meeting in Strasbourg that Baku might
open up all communication lines to Armenia should the latter releases
seven districts it occupied in 1991-94 war.

Mammadyarov’s proposal holds that over 700,000 Azerbaijani internally
displaced persons (IDP) should be returned to their homes before the
issue of Nagorno-Karabakh’s status is resolved.

Armenian side has rejected thus far every plan considering stage
by stage settlement of the conflict, supporting only a “package
resolution” of the problem.

Nagorno-Karabakh, a mostly ethnic-Armenian populated region of
Azerbaijan, is under the control Armenian troops along with seven
districts surrounding it.

A no war no peace situation continues since a cease-fire agreement was
reached on May 12, 1994, with the Azerbaijani authorities oftentimes
warning that they can resort to armed means at any moment to regain
the occupied territories.