"SOLUTION" TO THE KARABAKH CONFLICT HAS BEEN FOUND

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[07:59 pm] 01 December, 2006

"The Conflict Can’t Be Settled Without The Participation Of Karabakh"

"The meeting has been constructive. The Presidents have discussed
issues which are by now not agreed upon", said RA Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanyan about the Minsk meeting of Kocharyan and Aliev.

Although the Minister did not speak about progress, he mentioned,
"The negotiations have not reached a dead end. The Presidents will
soon tell the Foreign Ministers which issues to focus upon".

While the RA authorities kept silent, the Foreign Minister of
Azerbaijan gave an interview immediately after the Minsk meeting
and said that the position of Azerbaijan has not been changed and
they are ready to give Karabakh the highest degree of sovereignty in
Azerbaijan. After the statement of the Azeri official the optimism
of Vardan Oskanyan was a bit troubling.

Referring to the statement of Elmar Mammadyarov that there is only
one issue left to agree upon, Mr. Oskanyan said, "The position of
the Armenian side has not changed either. There is only one way
to put together the two contradicting principles – the territorial
integrity and right of self-determination of nations. As the idea of
a referendum has been mentioned in this document, we think that the
people of Nagorno Karabakh can be given a chance to make their choice –
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan or their self-determination. This
is the only solution and fortunately the elements of this solution
have been included in the document".

Mr. Oskanyan did not confirm the statement of Ilham Aliev that the
negotiations have entered the final phase. "If we are in the final
phase, then Karabakh must join the negotiations. It is impossible to
settle the conflict without the participation of Karabakh".

The Foreign Minister claimed that the announcements by Azerbaijan
that a decision has been made to give the seven liberated territories,
do not correspond to reality.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress