Karabakh’s status “priority” for Yerevan – Armenian Foreign Ministry

Arminfo
21 Jun 05

YEREVAN

“Every party can speak out on any issue during the talks. But this
does not mean that any suggestion by one of the sides is automatically
put on the agenda even if there is some preliminary agreement,”
Armenian Foreign Ministry’s press secretary Gamlet Gasparyan said
while commenting on a statement by the Azerbaijani side that the
Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers had discussed the reopening
of roads in Paris.

Gasparyan said Armenia had a precise position on this issue: “The
priority is Nagornyy Karabakh’s status,” he said. “And as long as this
issue remains unclear and there is no agreement on this, it is too
early to discuss any other issue.”

Azerbaijan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov said in Baku
yesterday that Azerbaijan had suggested opening transport links
between Azerbaijan and [its exclave] Naxcivan via Nagornyy Karabakh
and Armenia.

[Passage omitted: details of Azimov’s statement]