AZERI FOREIGN MINISTER OFF TO MOSCOW TO DISCUSS KARABAKH

MPA news agency, Baku
17 Aug 04

BAKU

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov began his official
visit to Russia today (17 August). Prior to his departure from Baku,
Mammadyarov told MPA news agency that during his stay in Moscow (till
19 August) he will have meetings with his Russian counterpart, Sergey
Lavrov, high-ranking officials from the Russian State Duma and the
presidential administration and with representatives of the
Azerbaijani diaspora. A news conference will be held at the end of the
visit.

The Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict and Russia’s activities as a
co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group will be the main topic of the
talks, Mammadyarov said. He will raise the issue of the military
exercises staged by Armenia in the occupied territory of Nagornyy
Karabakh. The sides will exchange views on regional issues, terrorism,
drug trafficking and illegal migration and consider plans for holding
a Year of Azerbaijan in Russia in 2005.