Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Jan 12 2005

What does Armenia expect from Prague meeting of Azeri-Armenian FMs

Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers Elmar Mammadyarov and
Vardan Oskanian started the next round of the Prague talks with
participation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs on Tuesday.
Prior to leaving for the Czech capital, Oskanian told the local media
that the talks to be held in 2005 will differ from the ones that
started last year. `The basic principles of settlement of the Upper
Garabagh conflict will be determined and separate details of these
principles discussed this year,’ he noted. The Armenian foreign
minister stressed that one may hope for progress in solution to the
Upper Garabagh conflict in 2005. `Of course, we should get ready to
make certain concessions in these processes,’ Oskanian underlined.
Meanwhile, Armenia’s `Azg’ newspaper has issued a different report on
the issues to be discussed during the Prague meeting. Armenia and
Azerbaijan are supposed to reach formal agreement on the status of
Upper Garabagh during the meeting, according to the newspaper.
The publication reports that under the formal agreement, Armenia will
allegedly withdraw its armed forces from the occupied lands of
Azerbaijan. Official Baku, in turn, will allegedly agree upon ruling
of Upper Garabagh by Armenia, which consequently will lead to a
nationwide poll on the status of Upper Garabagh in 5 or 10 years.
A similar statement was made by Oskanian in a news conference on
December 22, 2004. Citing the French `Le Figaro’ newspaper, the
Armenian foreign minister pointed out the opinions by the NATO
Parliamentary Assembly President Pier Lelouche and former Spanish
foreign minister A. Palacion (visited Upper Garabagh last fall)
saying that Upper Garabagh must be ruled by Armenia for a certain
period of time and a referendum be held in 5 or 10 years. Yuri
Merzlyakov, the Russian co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, earlier
stated that the Armenian side is ready to make certain concessions in
the Prague meetings, stressing that `now it is Azerbaijan’s turn’.*