U,S. hopeful for progress on rift over Nagorno-Karabakh

AP Worldstream; Apr 07, 2006

The State Department said Friday it is hopeful Azerbaijan and Armenia
can make progress toward ending their dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh.

That issue came up on Friday during a meeting between Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice and Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarove.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that ahead of the
meeting, Rice spoke with the Azeri and Armenian presidents.

The two leaders met recently in France.

“We hope that both sides can in the wake of the talks in France again
provide some renewed impetus to those discussions and come to an
agreement that would resolve this longstanding issue,” McCormack said.

Rice and Mammadyarove also discussed economic reform and
democratization in Azerbaijan.

“The secretary emphasized the importance of respect for human rights
and moving forward on the democratization process in Azerbaijan,”
McCormack said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Emil Lazarian

“I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS