No need for Aliyev-Kocharian meeting now, Armenian minister says

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
July 12 2006

Baku, July 11, AssA-Irada — Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian
has said there is currently no rapprochement in the positions of Baku
and Yerevan in talks on settling the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict.

"The two countries maintain no ties. But the US co-chair of the
[mediating] OSCE Minsk Group Matthew Bryza’s planned visit to the
region could forge ties between the sides and revive the peace process
in general," he told a recent news conference held jointly with his
Lebanese counterpart Fawzi Sallukh.

Armenian parliament speaker Tigran Torosian said Armenia does not
support holding talks between the two presidents in the immediate
future.

"There is no need for such meeting, as there is nothing new in the
negotiating process," he said in a meeting with a visiting OSCE
representative.

The latest rounds of talks between Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Robert
Kocharian in Rambouillet and Bucharest turned out fruitless.

Torosian accused Azerbaijan of pursuing hostile propaganda and stirring
tension over the Garabagh conflict. He also charged the Azeri side
with speculations concerning the arsons "committed in the territories
included in the security zone".

The fire set by Armenians across the occupied Azerbaijani territories
over the past month has swept through vast areas, destroying
cemeteries, arable land, flora and fauna.*