Interfax
July 13 2004

Armenian president meets with Minsk group co-chairmen

Yerevan. (Interfax) – Armenian President Robert Kocharian met with
co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk group on settling the Nagorno- Karabakh
conflict from Russia, the U.S. and France, the presidential press
service told Interfax.

During the meeting, the sides discussed the current status of issues
surrounding the settlement, the message says.

On July 13, the international mediators will visit Nagorno-Karabakh
to meet with the Karabakh authorities, and on July 15, they will
leave for Baku.

Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanyan said last week that the
co-chairmen will familiarize themselves with the situation during
this visit. “I think that during this visit the co-chairmen will not
make any new suggestions to the sides, as the recent meetings of
presidents and foreign ministers of the two countries have not yet
given the co-chairmen a foundation for creating new suggestions on
settling the Nagorno-Karabakh problem,” Oskanyan said.

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov told journalists on
Monday that the visit of the OSCE Minsk group’s co-chairmen may have
a positive effect on the negotiation process on the Nagorno-Karabakh
settlement.

“They [the co-chairmen] have not visited the region for six months.
We think that the co-chairmen should visit the region. They are in
Yerevan today, and they will visit Azerbaijan tomorrow. It is very
important that the co-chairmen discuss the situation at the site. We
will see what they come to Azerbaijan with after meeting the Armenian
president and the foreign minister,” Mamedyarov said.

Mamedyarov said that he does not expect any concrete suggestions from
the co-chairmen, who were permitted by Baku to visit Nagorno-
Karabakh. Mamedyarov said, however, that the co-chairmen’s visit to
Nagorno-Karabakh would give them a chance to familiarize themselves
firsthand with the situation in the conflict zone.

Azerbaijan lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent areas in
bitter fighting with Armenia which began in the 1990s. The UN
Security Council has denounced the occupation of Azerbaijani lands
and demanded the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the territory.
Co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk group representing the United States,
Russia and France are attempting to resolve the conflict.