ITAR-TASS, Russia
Nov. 3, 2004

Azerbaijan wants UN General Assembly to discuss territory issue

BAKU, November 3 (Itar-Tass) – Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said
international discussion of Azerbaijan’s conflict with the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict would not harm the settlement process.

Azerbaijan wants the discussion at the 59th session of the UN General
Assembly of the problem of chunks of its territory seized by the mostly
Armenian enclave Nagorno-Karabakh during the military phase of the
conflict.

Aliyev told reporters on Wednesday that discussing the issue `will not
make any harm to the Minsk process of settlement of the Karabakh
conflict’.

`We want the questions related to the Karabakh conflict, occupation by
Armenia of Azerbaijani territories to be brought to a broad
international audience in a full degree,’ he said.

Aliyev stressed that Azerbaijan remains committed to the Minsk process
`and does not seek at all any organization replacing the Minsk group of
the OSCE on Nagorno-Karabakh’ as a mediator.

At the same time Azerbaijan wants the European Union, the Council of
Europe, the UN and other influential international organizations to
discuss the territorial issue.

`All should unequivocally recognize that Armenia occupied a part of the
territory of Azerbaijan, and this unfair situation, this violation of
norms of the international law must be abolished,’ Aliyev said.