Azeris ready to give security pledges to Karabakh Armenians – foreign minister

ANS TV, Baku
17 May 05

[Presenter] The Warsaw summit of the Council of Europe is about to
complete its work. The Azerbaijani foreign minister addressed the heads
of state and governments of the Council of Europe member countries
a while ago. We are going over to Warsaw. ANS special correspondent,
Ali Ahmadov, is on the line. Hello Ali. What issues did Mr Mammadyarov
touch on in his speech? Ali, over to you.

[Correspondent, over the phone] Hello Aytan. The third
summit of the Council of Europe in Warsaw focused mainly on
Azerbaijani-Armenian-Turkish relations. I can say this, judging by
speeches which have been made so far. President Aliyev was expected
to take the floor at today’s session. However, Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov replaced him as the president was having a meeting. The
conference organizers said that they would enable Ilham Aliyev to
deliver a speech later on.

Mammadyarov said that conflicts existing in EuroAasia might pose a
serious threat to the future of a single Europe which is now being
built and developed. The restructuring of Europe was the subject
of today’s session. Mammadyarov said these conflicts are more
dangerous when they are accompanied by ethnic cleansing and the
military occupation of lands. Not only conflicts, but also national
policies aimed at creating mono-ethnic states run counter to European
principles.

Touching on the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, Mr Mammadyarov said that
the Azerbaijani leadership believes that the Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict can be resolved peacefully. He went on to say that this
might be achieved through the [self-proclaimed] Nagornyy Karabakh
Republic’s integration into Azerbaijan, the return of [displaced
Azeri] population and the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities’
peaceful co-existence [in Nagornyy Karabakh].

Mammadyarov said that the Azerbaijani leadership was ready to give
security guarantees to the Armenian population [in Nagornyy Karabakh].

[Passage omitted: details about Erdogan’s comment on Armenian genocide]