President Warns Next Round of Peace Talks May Be Fruitless

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Aug 19 2005

President Ilham Aliyev has made an unexpected statement concerning
the next round of Armenia-Azerbaijan talks on the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict resolution.

“Peace talks have been fruitless. Therefore, we should be ready for
anything”, Aliyev said while visiting the western Oghuz district
on Thursday.

Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents are due to meet in Kazan, Russia
August 26.

President Aliyev said that this situation prompts Azerbaijan to further
raise military expenses and thus increase its military power compared
to Armenia.