Armenian ministers says Sofia talks on Karabakh fruitless
Yeni Musavat, Baku
7 Dec 04
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan has said that the meeting
with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov in Sofia on 6
December was fruitless since no specific decision was made. Oskanyan
also criticized the OSCE Karabakh mediators for making no proposals
at the meeting. For his part, the Azerbaijani minister said that
Yerevan should abide by international law rather than coming up with
ideas based on “realities achieved by force”. However, the Russian
co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, Yuriy Merzlyakov, said that
the mediators were upbeat about the Sofia talks and promised that
the sides would make public their positions soon. The following is
an excerpt from Alakbar Raufoglu’s report by Azerbaijani newspaper
Yeni Musavat on 7 December headlined “Mammadyarov-Oskanyan dialogue
resumed” and subheaded “Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers
agreed in Sofia to continue ‘Prague process'”; subheadings have been
inserted editorially:
The Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers, Elmar Mammadyarov
and Vardan Oskanyan, met in Sofia yesterday [6 December].
[Passage omitted: reported details]
Another meeting planned
The Sofia meeting lasted for only about 25 minutes. The ministers
who first had one-to-one talks then continued the discussions with
the participation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen. No statement
was made for the media after the meeting.
A press release circulated by the press centre of the Azerbaijani
Foreign Ministry yesterday evening just reads that “the sides discussed
a number of issues related to the [Nagornyy Karabakh] settlement and
regarded as necessary to actively and effectively continue the talks
in the near future”.
They decided to hold another round within the format of the Prague
meeting on the sidelines of a Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council
session in Brussels on 9 December.
After the meeting, Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov delivered a
speech at the 12th session of the OSCE foreign ministers. He drew
attention to the fact that Armenia which has occupied Azerbaijani
territories is striving to build up its military aggression. It
is pursuing an active settlement policy in Nagornyy Karabakh and
around it and “this is a serious violation of international law and
specifically runs counter to the Geneva Convention of 1949”. Baku
backs a settlement that is in line with relevant UN Security Council
resolutions and OSCE documents.
“We are ready to normalize relations with Armenia. But Yerevan should
not come up with realities achieved by force and the ideology of
territorial claims, but abide by international law and democracy,”
the minister said.
Armenian minister says talks were fruitless
“The results of the Sofia meeting will help continue the Prague process
which has already assumed a long-term nature. We touched on specific
issues and exchanged views during the talks,” Vardan Oskanyan said
in an interview with Armenian journalists yesterday evening (Arka
news agency).
He said that they had decided to continue the dialogue “at the
level of the current realities” at the meeting with his Azerbaijani
counterpart. The sides think that “the Prague process creates hopes
for good results”.
The meeting mainly focused on the presidents’ positions on the
Prague talks.
“We have already received relevant instructions from the heads of
states and from now on will discuss those details,” Oskanyan said.
He said that he had got the Armenian president’s blessing and
instructions before he visited Sofia, however, this was fruitless.
“We conduct discussions and talks, but finally we cannot make a
specific decision,” the Armenian minister said.
The meeting also discussed the recent increase of tension on
the frontline and also UN discussions on the illegal settlement
of Armenians on the occupied territories in Karabakh. Azerbaijan
informed Yerevan of its position on the two issues. “We decided that
these issues should be approached seriously and their influence on
the negotiating process should be taken into consideration. I hope
an end will be put to these issues,” Oskanyan said.
OSCE mediators upbeat on Sofia talks
The co-chairmen made no proposals during the Sofia meeting.
“We did not see any proposal. The mediators again just arrived and
left,” Oskanyan said.
[Passage omitted: no specific news can be expected from the dialogue
in the near future, if the co-chairmen continue their efforts this way]
“The co-chairmen are upbeat about the Sofia discussions. The sides
will meet in the near future and will make public their positions,”
the Russian co-chairman of the Minsk Group, Yuriy Merzlyakov, said
in an interview with Ekspress.