BAKU WILLING TO RESOLVE KARABAKH PROBLEM BY STAGE AND PACKAGE OPTION
Armenpress
Jul 4 2006
BAKU, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS: A senior Azerbaijani official has reaffirmed
the official Baku’s willingness to continue talks with Armenia on a
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution option based on the so-called
‘stage and package’ approach.
Head of Azerbaijani foreign affairs ministry’s press office, Tair
Tagizade, told the Russian Itar-Tass news agency that Azerbaijan
perceives that the first stage should comprise from 8 to 10 elements
which include particularly the pullout of Armenian troops from all
regions surrounding the administrative borders of Nagorno-Karabakh,
demining of the frontline, return of refugees, ensuring their security
and restoration of communications.
The talks in second stage, he said, must center on defining the
legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh within the territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan, which is possible only after restoration of the ethnic
composition of Nagorno-Karabakh before 1988, ensuring the security
of Armenian and Azeri communities of Nagorno-Karabakh in line with
Azerbaijani constitution.
On Monday deputy foreign minister of Azerbaijan, Araz Azimov was
quoted by the Turan news agency as saying that Baku has never said
it agrees to such a solution of the conflict that would culminate in
a referendum on Nagorno-Karabakh status.