AZERBAIJAN READY TO GRANT BROAD AUTONOMY TO KARABAKH – MINISTER

Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS Military Newswire
June 19, 2006 Monday 10:41 AM MSK

Azerbaijan is ready to grant broad autonomy to the predominantly
ethnic Armenian enclave of Nagorno- Karabakh, Azeri Foreign Minister
Elmar Mammadyarov told journalists on Sunday.

"I am speaking about the highest level of autonomy for Nagorno-
Karabakh. There is such a precedent in the world. For instance,
Trieste, or Tatarstan in the neighboring Russian Federation," he said.

Tatarstan’s Constitution envisions broad powers, including the
republic’s right to set up its own representative offices abroad,
the minister said. "There is no point in searching for any new key
to the Karabakh problem," he said.

"All these issues should be dealt with after the Azeri population
returns to Nagorno-Karabakh. Nobody can blackmail Azeri refugees,
denying them any opportunity to return to their homeland currently
under Armenia’s occupation," Mammadyarov said.