AZERI-ARMENIAN TALKS FRUITLESS

AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
June 8 2006

Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Robert
Kocharian met in Bucharest for another round of talks on resolving
the long-standing Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict on Sunday. The
meeting, held at the Polish embassy in the Romanian capital, produced
no results.

The first part of the four-hour meeting was attended by the OSCE
chairman-in-office and Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht,
co-chairmen of the mediating OSCE Minsk Group Steven Mann, Yuri
Merzlyakov and Bernard Fassier, as well as the OSCE chairman’s special
envoy, Andrjei Casprzyk. The talks continued with a private meeting
between the two leaders.

Although the decision was made to continue the presidential talks on
the following day, something observers said gave hopes for a positive
outcome, the discussions turned out fruitless again. The presidents
did not sign a joint statement, as was previously planned. Armenian
President Kocharian left the conference hall first, followed by
Presidents Aliyev.

No information was provided to the press after the negotiations.

Kocharian explained this by what he described as “nothing to disclose”
about the meeting results.

In a joint statement released on Tuesday, the co-chairs said they
“regretted” the failure of the sides to reach an agreement on solution
principles.

The US Minsk Group co-chair Steven Mann told Radio Liberty that the
heads of state conducted a very intense discussion.

“The co-chairs will discuss the outcome of the talks in the coming
days on their own, plan further steps and inform the OSCE Permanent
Council of this at the upcoming meeting.”

Mann declined to disclose the gist of the presidential talks but said
they centered on “multi-faceted issues”.

Asked whether the talks marked any differences to the previous round
of discussions between the two leaders, he said: “I can only say
that we had very comprehensive talks. We are currently at the stage
of detailed and comprehensive discussions.”

The sides failed to agree on issues of principle during the talks
in the French town of Rambouillet in February, which was followed by
Azerbaijan’s threats to resort to military action.

Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said the key differences
between the conflicting sides concerned general principles.

“Azerbaijan’s stance remains unchanged,” he said.

Mammadyarov noted that he could meet with his Armenian counterpart
again if the need be. As for another meeting of the presidents,
he said this would depend on the prospects for further negotiations.

The head of the President’s Office international relations department,
Novruz Mammadov, said the two leaders had decided not to disclose
information to the media. He indicated, however, that the meeting
could be seen as a step forward and marked some rapprochement in the
positions of the parties.

The US Department of State Assistant Secretary for European and
Eurasian Affairs, Daniel Fried, stressed the importance of resolving
the Azeri-Armenian dispute and said there are opportunities for
achieving the goal. Reaching a possible accord depends on the Azeri
and Armenian presidents, the Russian media quoted him as saying.

Fried emphasized that the OSCE mediators had put forth a number of
proposals that could create a platform for solution. These ideas are
neutral and do not favor either of the sides, he said.

“As a representative of the United States, I would like to say that we
want as much territory as possible to be returned to Azerbaijan in a
short period of time. We also want refugees to return to their homes,”
the diplomat said. He added that each of the conflicting sides has its
own interests involved and various options for the conflict settlement.

Upper Garabagh, which is internationally recognized as being part of
Azerbaijan, has both Azerbaijani and ethnic Armenian population. It
was occupied by Armenia in the early 1990s, along with seven other
Azerbaijani districts, after large-scale hostilities which claimed the
lives of up 30,000 people and forced over a million Azerbaijanis out
of their homes. The ceasefire accord was signed in 1994, but peace
talks have been fruitless so far and refugees remain stranded.