Azartac news agency, Baku, in Russian
15 Sep 06

AZERI OFFICIAL SAYS UPCOMING UN DEBATE ON KARABAKH CONFLICT
"BRILLIANT VICTORY"

An Azerbaijani presidential aide has said that the inclusion of the
Nagornyy Karabakh problem on the agenda of the 61st session of the UN
General Assembly is a victory for Azerbaijan’s foreign policy.

In an interview with the state-run Azartac news agency on 15
September, the head of the foreign relations department at the
Azerbaijani presidential administration, Novruz Mammadov, said: "The
inclusion of the issue on the agenda of the UN General Assembly is a
crucial event, a brilliant victory and success of Azerbaijan’s
foreign policy. This should be recognized."

Mammadov said that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev raised the
issue at the Kiev summit of the GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan
and Moldova alliance) countries on 22-23 May 2006.

At its plenary session on 13 September, the UN General Assembly took
a decision to include the issue of frozen conflicts on the territory
of the former Soviet Union on the agenda of its 61st session. The
proposal was put forward by the GUAM.

Mammadov also praised the USA and Britain for supporting the position
of the GUAM during the voting for the issue, as Armenia and the
countries supporting it tried to vote down the proposal.

Mammadov thinks that this will allow the countries in the world to
closely familiarize themselves with the situation in the states with
frozen conflicts. He said that the security in the South Caucasus was
of great importance not only for the region, but also for Europe and
the entire world.