Azeris expect OSCE prove Armenia’s involvement in resettlement in Karabakh

ANS TV, Baku
21 Mar 05

[Presenter] Azerbaijan has a strong army to liberate the territories
under occupation, [Azerbaijani] Defence Minister Safar Abiyev has
said, while Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov does not rule out that
regular violations of the cease-fire by Armenia could be a calculated
act of sabotage.

[Correspondent, over video of Mammadyarov outside the Foreign Ministry]
Mammadyarov is pleased with the report of the OSCE fact-finding
mission on the settlement of Armenians in Nagornyy Karabakh. He
said that official Baku would issue a statement on 22 March over
the findings of the mission. Despite considering the report to be
objective, the minister said he is unhappy with some points.

[Mammadyarov, captioned, shown speaking to ANS] There are a few
points in the report that we cannot accept. It is stated there
that official Yerevan does not deal with this issue [settlement of
Armenians in Nagornyy Karabakh and occupied districts of Azerbaijan].
But we have information that it does. Now, the fact-finding mission
must continue its work and prove that official Yerevan actually deals
with the illegal settlement.

[Correspondent] The minister also commented on the recent frequent
cases of violation of the cease-fire. Mammadyarov did not rule out
that the breach of the cease-fire could be in the interests of the
Armenian leadership.

[Mammadyarov] We have already expressed our position. We think that
some provocation will be in place as long as negotiations are under
way. We think that the violation of the cease-fire is provocation.

[Correspondent] However, the foreign minister does not believe that
the violations could affect the course of the talks.

In turn, Safar Abiyev says that measures are being taken to minimize
casualties. On the kind of measures, the defence minister said that
it is their business.

[Safar Abiyev, captioned, speaking to journalists] The war will
continue as long as our lands are under occupation.

[Correspondent] Who knows, maybe the real name of the cease-fire,
which is accompanied with frequent violations, is war indeed.

Eldaniz Valiyev, Ali Ahmadov, Hikmat Asgarov for ANS.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress