EU envoy urges Azeri, Armenian leaders to renew Karabakh negotiators’ mandate

Turan news agency
12 May 05

BAKU

The special representative of the European Union for the South
Caucasus, Heikki Talvitie, told a news conference in Baku today that
the key topics of his negotiations were the prospects for the Karabakh
settlement, the forthcoming parliamentary elections and
Turkish-Armenian relations.

Touching on the first issue, Talvitie said the foreign ministers of
the two countries had not met since March. This is explained by the
fact that there is no agenda for the talks between the foreign
ministers.

“They need a new mandate,” he said.

During the visit to the region, Talvitie held meetings with the
Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents and spoke about their meeting in
Warsaw on the sidelines of the Council of Europe summit [16-17
May]. He expressed the hope that the meeting would be held and the
heads of the two states would provide their ministers with a new
mandate to continue the negotiations.

Talvitie explained the discussion of Turkish-Armenian relations in
Baku by the impact of this issue on the Karabakh settlement. Talvitie
reiterated the known position of Ankara that as long as the Karabakh
conflict remains unresolved, Turkey will not open its border with
Armenia. The EU envoy believes that a solution to the Karabakh
conflict “partly” depends on negotiations between Turkey and Armenia.