MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
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PRESS AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
375010 Telephone: +3741. 544041 ext 202
Fax: +3741. .562543
Email: press@mfa.am:

PRESS RELEASE

February 16, 2005

Foreign Ministry’s Press Secretary Hamlet Gasparian Comments on Azimov’s
Statement to REGNUM News Agency

Question: In his interview to Azeri ATV, Azerbaijan’s deputy foreign
minister A. Azimov announced that “The government of Azerbaijan rules
out any chance of discussions about a corridor between Armenia and
Nagorno Karabagh”. If this is the position of Baku, how can we ensure
that one of our main negotiation points, i.e. exclusion of Nagorno
Karabagh’s enclave status, be met? On the other hand, does this mean
that Azerbaijan’s communication routes with Nakhichevan and Armenia’s
communication routes with Nagorno Karabagh are discussed within the
same negotiations framework?

Answer: It is true that the Azeri party has recently been coming
up with various far-fetched schemes, often voiced by Araz Azimov,
intended to complicate and confuse the issues on the negotiations
agenda. In this specific case, they are probably concerned by
preliminary findings of the fact-finding mission, already covered
by the media. These findings by no means suit Azerbaijan’s claims,
hence their attempts to throw in all kinds of unrealistic speculations.

While this and other misleading statements by the Azeri party should
not be taken too seriously, they may still cause confusion among our
society. Therefore, it is worth mentioning that Nakhichevan, which
does not have any communications problems to start with, cannot be
viewed within the same framework with Nagorno Karabagh. Nakhichevan’s
communications with its neighbor states are not constrained in any
way. The issue is about Nagorno Karabagh and the consequences of the
conflict, and in this sense the status of Lachin corridor cannot be
juxtaposed to any other such issue.