WHAT DEFIES BAKU’S AND YEREVAN’S EFFORTS TO REACH AGREEMENT?
by S. Rzayev
Source: Ekho (Baku), December 12, 2006, EV
Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
December 15, 2006 Friday
Foreign minister of Azerbaijan comments on the Azerbaijani-Armenian
conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh
AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTER ELMAR MAMEDJAROV BELIEVES THAT BAKU WILL
ORCHESTRATE A PEACEFUL RESOLUTION TO THE NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT;
Azerbaijan wants to know how sincere the Armenian leadership is
in its claims with regard to a peaceful solution to the problem of
Nagorno-Karabakh.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov met with journalists
in Baku. He said that there was a "major" unresolved issue in the
Nagorno-Karabakh negotiations process and that progress in this sphere
could only be reported once the matter was taken are of.
Mamedyarov said as well that his meeting with the foreign minister
of Armenia might take place in late January 2007.
"Had we not been confident of efficiency of the talks, we’d have
abandoned them," the Azerbaijani diplomat said.
Mamedyarov appraised the latest round of the negotiations as
"constructive indeed". Official Baku wants to know the degree
of Yerevan’s straightforwardness. "On the one hand, the Armenians
say they want progress in the negotiations. On the other, they
initiate all these senseless referendums that only impede the talks,"
Mamedyarov said.
Azerbaijan would like to be able to trust Armenia’s straightforwardness
without any circumstances attached. "Regardless of the elections
forthcoming in Armenia or any revolutionary events that may be
sparked by the population’s dissatisfaction with their outcome,"
Mamedyarov said. As a matter of fact, the minister did not rule out
the possibility that Yerevan’s "sincere" wish for a breakthrough
in the talks could be a simulation necessitated by the domestic
political situation.
Mamedyarov said he did not believe in a solution to the problem by
military means because of its economic implications. "Azerbaijan will
have conflict resolved by peace means with the new leaders of Armenia,
if not with the current administration," Mamedyarov said.