KARABAKH STATUS CAN BE DETERMINED AFTER REFUGEES RETURN – AZERI SPOKESMAN
Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS Military Newswire
July 4, 2006 Tuesday 1:03 PM MSK
A decision on the status of Nagorno- Karabakh can be taken only after
all refugees return to the predominantly ethnic Armenian enclave and
after safe living conditions for the Azeri and Armenian communities
have been established there, Azeri Foreign Ministry spokesman Tair
Tagizade told Interfax.
"Only after the pre-conflict demographic composition of the
Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan has been restored, after
security has been guaranteed and after conditions allowing the two
communities to live side-by-side peacefully have been established,
will it be possible to speak about a democratic constitutional way
to determine the status of Nagorno-Karabakh," he said.
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian said on Monday that conflict
settlement initiatives presented by the OSCE Minsk Group "are generally
acceptable for Armenia. We are ready to continue talks with Azerbaijan
on ways to settle the Karabakh conflict," he said.
"In my opinion, it is obvious that Armenia could have and should
have accepted them. You do not have to search for anything new. The
statement by the [OSCE Minsk Group] co-chairmen overwhelmingly
confirmed it," Tagizade said.
"We are speaking about liberating all occupied districts of Azerbaijan
outside Nagorno-Karabakh, withdrawing Armenian troops from the areas,
carrying out mine-sweeping operations, restoring road links, helping
refugees return to the districts and guaranteeing security," the
spokesman said.