HOPES REMAIN DESPITE LATEST FRUITLESS TALKS, ARMENIAN MINISTER SAYS

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
April 19 2006

Baku, April 18, AssA-Irada
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian has said that the latest
fruitless round of talks between Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Robert
Kocharian in Rambouillet, France in February should not be considered
as the overall failure of talks to settle the long-standing Upper
(Nagorno) Garabagh conflict.

“Although the two leaders were unable to reach agreement at
Rambouillet, we do not consider the negotiating process unsuccessful
as a whole,” Oskanian said in a recent meeting of the EU-Armenian
inter-parliamentary commission. He said that based on the progress
achieved prior to the meeting, hopes remain for the future.

Oskanian said that earlier Yerevan had refused to table any other
issues prior to the determination of Upper Garabagh’s status.

“However, in the course of the talks, it backed away from the previous
stance by making a serious compromise,” he maintained.

“If Azerbaijan admits to the right of Upper Garabagh Armenians to
self-determination, if not immediately, then a little later, the
Armenian side will be ready to solve other matters, including the
withdrawal from [Azeri] territories, return of refugees and security
issues,” the Armenian minister said.

Oskanian said the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group brokering
settlement to the conflict are currently working to arrange for the
next meeting of the Azeri and Armenian presidents, but “real grounds”
should be created for this. He added that the date of such meeting
is unknown at this point.