ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
January 13, 2005 Thursday 10:18 AM Eastern Time

Azerbaijan-Armenia talks in Prague yield no results – diplomat

By Sevindzh Abdullayeva and Viktor Shulman

BAKU

The talks between the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers in
Prague on January 11 have not yielded any concrete results, said
Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov, who is also
presidential special envoy for the talks on Nagorno-Karabakh
settlement.

Speaking at a press briefing on Thursday, Azimov said, “There are
many disagreements. The talks are being held in a difficult
atmosphere.” At the same time, he noted that both sides are
interested in reaching concrete agreements.

“Azerbaijan favours the peaceful settlement of the conflict in
compliance with the norms of international law in order to preserve
the country’s territorial integrity,” the Azerbaijani diplomat
stressed.

The restoration of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity is one of the
key problems in ensuring peace in the region, but this will not solve
the problem in full, he added. One of the major purposes is to
convince the Azerbaijani and Armenian population to live in peace,
but “now it’s early to talk about it,” the diplomat pointed out.

Commenting on possible compromises, Azimov said it is possible to
reach any compromise if both sides succeed in bringing their
positions closer.

“The frozen situation will not give any results,” the diplomat said.
Azerbaijan seeks to discuss the problem related to freeing seven
occupied regions of the country that may help restore traffic and
restore economic cooperation with Armenia, Azimov said.

The next round of talks may be held at the end of February. In his
words, the U.N. special mission is expected to visit the region on
January 28. It includes representatives of the countries co-chairing
in the OSCE Minsk Group for Nagorno-Karabakh – Russia, the U.S. and
France, as well as members of the Minsk Group – Finland, Italy,
Sweden and Germany.