AZERI LEADER SAYS ARMENIA TRYING TO BUY TIME IN KARABAKH TALKS

Turan News Agency, Azerbaijan
Dec 21 2006

Baku, 21 December: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has urged
the Armenian leadership to take a constructive position in the
negotiations on the Karabakh settlement. Speaking at a session in
Naxcivan [Azerbaijan’s exclave] today, Aliyev called on Armenia
"to finally accept" the proposals of the OSCE Minsk Group and "not
to look for excuses trying to buy time".

Yerevan officials have been recently making "ridiculous" statements.

"Azerbaijan will never grant independence to Nagornyy Karabakh. Such
statements by officials are absolutely not true," Aliyev said.

The significance of Azerbaijan and Armenia for the world community
is not the same. Azerbaijan’s economy is six times bigger than that
of Armenia, and this difference will increase tenfold in the near
future. Azerbaijan’s state budget is six times bigger than the budget
of Armenia, and Azerbaijan’s military budget equals Armenia’s state
budget, Aliyev said.

Azerbaijan’s significance for Europe’s energy security is constantly
growing, which boosts the country’s military and political positions.

"For the time being Azerbaijan takes into consideration Armenia’s
interests, namely it is ready to grant autonomy to Nagornyy Karabakh.

But this might change in the future," Aliyev said and urged Yerevan
to draw the "right" conclusion and take a constructive approach.

"[Armenia] should not refer to parliamentary elections and make a fool
of themselves. The OSCE, EU, Council of Europe, the USA, France and
others have unequivocally condemned the illegal referendum in Nagornyy
Karabakh. Azerbaijan’s purposeful policies are yielding results,
and we will achieve a fair solution to the problem," Aliyev said.