Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 23 2004

S Caucasus PA not to be set up unless Upper Garabagh conflict is
settled, says Vice Speaker

Baku, September 22, AssA-Irada
Vice Speaker of the Milli Majlis (parliament) Ziyafat Asgarov
received Denis Sammit, executive director of the London Information
Network on State Building and Conflicts, on Wednesday.
Asgarov said that he has been informed about the proposal made by the
Network to establish the Parliamentary Assembly of South Caucasus
countries.
Noting that this is impossible unless the Upper Garabagh conflict is
settled, the Vice Speaker directly blamed the leadership of Armenia
for failure to solve the conflict. `How can we set up a Parliamentary
Assembly together with a terrorist state?’, underscored Asgarov,
stating that no relations will be established between Azerbaijan and
Armenia until the conflict is settled. Sammit, in turn, said that
there is a very complicated situation in South Caucasus due to
ongoing conflicts. Stating that he understands well international
organizations’ failure to settle the conflict, Sammit advised the
governments of the two conflicting sides to make joint efforts with
international organizations and NGOs in this respect.*