Azeri foreign minister urges NATO’s contribution to Karabakh settlement

Ekspress, Baku
10 Dec 04

Excerpt from Alakbar Raufoglu’s report by Azerbaijani newspaper
Ekspress on 10 December headlined “Baku wants NATO’s intervention in
the Karabakh problem”, subheaded “Mammadyarov met Oskanyan in Brussels
this time”

The Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers, Elmar Mammadyarov and
Vardan Oskanyan, had another meeting in Brussels yesterday [9
December].

[Passage omitted: reported details]

Araz Azimov and Tatul Margaryan, the Azerbaijani and Armenian
presidential envoys for the Karabakh problem, also attended the
meeting.

[Passage omitted: reported details]

There is no official report on the details of the Brussels
meeting. The two ministers joined a session of the Euro-Atlantic
Partnership Council immediately after the talks.

Mammadyarov made an opening speech at the session and called on NATO
to intervene in the Karabakh settlement. He drew attention to the fact
that Armenia was engaged in illegal activities in the territories
which it is keeping under occupation and that international observers
turned a blind eye to this. Baku supports a peaceful solution to the
conflict, but at the same time, “it is impossible to put up with the
arbitrariness of the Armenians on the [occupied] Azerbaijani
territories for a long time”.

Mammadyarov spoke highly of the talks with his Armenian counterpart
and stressed Baku’s concern over any illegal activities which could
damage the peaceful settlement.

“We call on NATO to contribute to the settlement of the issue,” he
said.