Baku, Yerevan Differ On Resolution Ahead Of Talks

RFE/RL Armenia Report
Wednesday, 08 June 2005

Prague, 8 June 2005 (RFE/RL) — Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov told journalists in Baku on 7 June that “a great deal will
depend” on the outcome of his meeting with his Armenian counterpart
Vartan Oskanian in Paris on 17 June, echo-az.com and day.az reported on
8 June.

Mammadyarov again said that the two sides are discussing between seven
and nine issues related to a peace settlement, and that those issues
have to be addressed in a specific order, with each made secure before
the following one is added, “like pearls knotted on a silk thread.”

Mammadyarov said Azerbaijan insists on the liberation of the seven
districts currently occupied by Armenian forces, and that the two sides
are discussing which countries or organizations could provide
peacekeeping forces to be deployed on those territories after their
liberation, according to day.az.

He also said that “after the frontiers are opened we must revive trade
links and transport.” Echo-az.com quoted Mammadyarov as saying that the
two sides are discussing both the “phased” and the “package” approaches
to resolving the conflict.

But a senior Armenian Foreign Ministry official told “RFE/RL Newsline”
on condition of anonymity that the final agreement will be a package
one, although its various provisions may be implemented one after the
other, rather than simultaneously.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress