Armenian minister misses OSCE-brokered Karabakh talks

Space TV, Baku
27 Apr 05

[Presenter] Another round of the talks on the settlement of the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict is being held in Frankfurt at the
moment. Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan has avoided the
meeting with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen again.

[Correspondent] Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, who
came to meet the co-chairmen, made a brief statement to Radio
Liberty. The minister said that today’s meeting was a continuation of
the negotiations that started in Prague. We had a meeting in London
and will continue consultations in Frankfurt. If the presidents’
meeting is important, we will discuss it. This meeting is a step
forward and a continuation of the Prague process, Mammadyarov said.

It should be noted that the co-chairmen had separate meetings with the
ministers in London on 15 April. Negotiations were scheduled in the
same format in Frankfurt, but Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanyan did not turn up in Frankfurt.

The OSCE co-chairmen said in a statement on 15 April that the
Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers would meet in
Frankfurt. The US diplomats I talked to declined to make any comments
on Oskanyan’s failure to join the meeting. However, Oskanyan’s absence
raises new questions of whether there has been any progress in the
negotiations.

Mammadyarov said that he would ask the co-chairmen about the causes of
his Armenian counterpart’s absence and clarify this issue. The
negotiations are under way.

Kanan Kazimoglu, Radio Liberty from Frankfurt for Space.