Armenia may back out of peace talks

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Nov 11 2004

Armenian foreign minister Vardan Oskanian told “Azadlig” radio on
Wednesday that his country has officially agreed to continue the
Prague talks. He said, however, that the negotiations cannot be held
at a time the issue on the occupied Azerbaijani lands is discussed
at the 59th session of the UN General Assembly.

“If Azerbaijan does not give up the discussions on the issue at the
United Nations, the talks will not take place and Azerbaijan will
have to negotiate with the Armenian community of Upper Garabagh.”
In reply to the utterance, the Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry press
spokesman Matin Mirza said that the Ministry has not received any
official information on the continuation of the talks. As for the
proposal to consider the issue on the occupied territories at the
UN, this is due to the fact that Armenia is engaged in activity
contradicting international law in these territories, which should
not be disregarded by the international community, Mirza said.
The Ministry press spokesman pointed out that any discussions with
the self-proclaimed ‘Upper Garabagh republic’ are unacceptable.

“According to the OSCE Minsk Group by-laws, Azerbaijan and Armenia
should be involved as parties in peace talks, while the Azerbaijani and
Armenian communities of Upper Garabagh are just interested parties.”,
Mirza added.