Armenian minister denies plan to sign deal with Azerbaijan

Mediamax news agency
9 Mar 05

Yerevan, 9 March: Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan has
described as “absolutely false” the statement that in the near future
Armenia and Azerbaijan will sign an agreement on the settlement of
the Nagornyy Karabakh problem.

Vardan Oskanyan said in Yerevan today that there is no concrete
agreement yet regarding the meeting between the Armenian and
Azerbaijani presidents, Mediamax reports. As to a dialogue at the
level of the two countries’ foreign ministers, Oskanyan said that the
date of a regular meeting will be specified over the next several days.

A regular round of talks between the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign
ministers was supposed to take place in Prague on 2 March, however
because of the Armenian foreign minister’s illness, it was not held.
Oskanyan had a pneumonia.

The Armenian foreign minister expressed his disagreement today
with the statements that the Armenian side “suffers defeats in the
settlement process”. Vardan Oskanyan pointed out that the issue of
self-determination of the Nagornyy Karabakh people continues to be
most important for Yerevan. However, the minister said, “there is also
the territorial component, since the territory on which the people of
Nagornyy Karabakh achieved their self-determination has never been
a part of independent Azerbaijan.” According to Vardan Oskanyan, “a
hybrid of these two approaches strengthens our negotiating position.”

The Armenian foreign minister said that the Armenian and Nagornyy
Karabakh authorities have no disagreement over the settlement issue.
“Although, representatives of Stepanakert [Xankandi] do not take part
in the talks directly, they are well informed about their content,”
Oskanyan said.