Former FM accuses Armenia of delaying talks

Azer News, Azerbaijan
May 27 2004

A roundtable, “Upper Garabagh: from deadlock to progress, from
ceasefire to peace”, started in Moscow on Tuesday. Former Foreign
Minister Tofig Zulfugarov said that Baku sees no alternative to the
stage-by-stage settlement of the Upper Garabagh conflict.

He criticized Armenia’s position in the peace talks and accused Yerevan
of trying to prolong the negotiations. Armenian political analyst
Migranian suggested that the experience of the Turkish-Armenian truce
commission (which closed earlier this year) should be considered in the
course of peace talks. He said the Upper Garabagh conflict should be
considered a part of the long-lasting Turkish-Armenian confrontation.

Migranian added that the deadlock in the peace talks was caused by
unacceptable terms put forward by both parties. Former co-chair of
the OSCE Minsk Group, Vladimir Kazimirov agreed with him and added
that the demands of neither party will be met in the next ten years.