CHINA HOPES FOR "PROPER SOLUTION" TO AZERBAIJAN CONFLICT – SPOKESMAN

Xinhua News Agency, China
Dec 12 2006

Beijing, 12 December: China hopes the parties to the Azerbaijan
conflict will find a proper solution that complies with international
law, said a Foreign Ministry spokesman.

The Chinese government respects the independence, sovereignty and
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and supports the UN Security
Council resolutions on the conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region
of Azerbaijan, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang here Tuesday
[12 December] at a regular press conference.

Qin said China is willing to work with the international community
to find a peaceful solution to the issue.

Nagorno-Karabakh is a region in Azerbaijan populated mostly by ethnic
Armenians. On 10 December it held a referendum about a constitution.

Preliminary results from the region’s election commission on Monday
showed 98.6 per cent of the voters approved the constitution. The
region has 90,000 voters and voter turnout reached 87 per cent.

Azerbaijan refused to recognize the results of the vote, calling the
referendum "a farce".

The European Union and other international organizations, including the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said they would
not recognize the referendum, the Azerbaijan foreign minister said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress