Italian military center to study Upper Garabagh conflict

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Dec 6 2004

Resolution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper Garabagh,
one of the most serious problems in South Caucasus, is an important
challenge, Director of Italy’s Defense Sciences Center Pietro Ercole
Ago said in a meeting with President Ilham Aliyev on Friday.

Ago is visiting Azerbaijan to hold seminars and discussions dedicated
to local conflicts.

The Italian official said the entity he is leading intends to conduct
research related to the conflict settlement and aspires to provide
assistance in this area. He said that as head of the Council of
Europe Committee of Ministers Ago monitoring group, he is closely
following the peace talks and wants to see a speedy and peaceful
conflict resolution.

President Aliyev said that he continues his efforts at resolving
the conflict based on international legal norms, within Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity and through peace talks. He pointed out that
there is no other alternative and that the conflict settlement is
being hampered only by the non-constructive stance of the Armenian
government.

The mentioned center, a higher educational institution of the Italian
armed forces, is engaged in training local personnel in the area of
military policies. The entity conducts joint conferences and seminars
in various countries throughout the world to discuss ways of settling
local conflicts.*