TREND, Azerbiajan
Dec 1 2006

`Window of Possibilities’ in Peaceful Negotiations over
Nagorno-Karabakh Still Open: Armenian Foreign Minister

Source: Trend
Author: Trend

01.12.2006

Vardan Oskanyan, Armenia’s Foreign Minister, has claimed in Yerevan
today that `controversies concerning both principles of the peaceful
agreement and its nuances still remain in the negotiations over the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement’, Trend reports.

Mediamax News Agency reports that answering questions put by
journalists during today’s press conference in Yerevan, the Head of
the Armenian Foreign Office pointed out that a `window of
possibilities’ for settling the Karabakh issue was likely to remain
opened in 2007 as well.

Mr. Oskanyan said that in the near future, the Armenian and
Azerbaijani Presidents would give concrete instructions to their
Foreign Ministers to continue the peaceful negotiations. `We can
state, with confidence, that the process is not in a dead alley, said
Mr. Oskanyan.

Commenting upon the fact that officially Baku continues to call the
observation of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity as the basis of the
settlement process, and Yerevan’s insistence on the right of the
people of Nagorno-Karabakh on self-determination, Mr. Oskanyan
claimed that `this issue could be settled only via a referendum that
was pointed out in the document that both parties were discussing
presently.

According to the Armenian Minister, since both parties could not
achieve a final agreement concerning the holding of the referendum,
it is too early to speak about the details. At the same time, Mr.
Oskanyan pointed out that `the referendum would be held on the
territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, and only those people who had lived
there or were still residing there would have the right to take part
in it’.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress