BAKU AGAINST EU SUGGESTION

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[01:53 pm] 21 February, 2007

Official Baku turned down yesterday’s suggestion made by Peter Semneby,
EU special representative in South Caucasus. The Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of Baku replied that adoption of relationships with Nagorno
Karabakh was impossible.

"Both Armenian and Azerbaijan inhabitants in Nagorno Karabakh are
citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Therefore the relationships between them should be equal to that with
other regions of the country, as far as in case of Nagorno Karabakh a
higher autonomy adoption is concerned. It means, that the territory
will have a special status in Azerbaijan," claimed Tair Taghizade,
head of Press Service of the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan.

He also mentioned that Azerbaijan had claimed several times that
the relations would reestablish if some components of the conflict
were fulfilled.

"We cannot adopt relations and reestablish trust only with Nagorno
Karabakh region, unless the conflict resolution demands are carried
out. The latter issues are the disarmament of adjacent areas, mine
clearing of means of communication, the return of refugees.

Only afterwards will trust establishment programs start," stated the
representative of the Minisrty of Foreign Affairs in Azerbaijan.