Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
posted Aug 22 2005

Azerbaijan will continue talks with Armenia – President

Baku, August 19, AssA-Irada

President Ilham Aliyev has said Azerbaijan will continue talks on
settling the Upper Garabagh conflict with Armenia. `As long as there
is hope, we should continue the negotiations.’
Aliyev said that the progress in talks achieved thus far is important
but provides no guarantees. `The parties still have serious
differences’, he said.
The President noted that the gist of the `Prague process’ is the
stage-by-stage conflict resolution, which envisions liberation of
occupied land first and then an accord between the two sides. Such
discussions may continue without any temporary restrictions, he said.

`In the conditions of globalization and enlargement of Europe,
separatism cannot exist. Armenia will face difficulties to live in a
modern world with this burden.’
Aliyev said that Armenia cites the safety of Armenian residents of
Upper Garabagh as the key issue in the talks, `but this cannot be at
the expense of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity’.*