NEGOTIATIONS ON QARABAGH DEADLOCKED

PRESS TV
Aug 3 2007
Iran

The Minsk Group has failed to settle the Qarabagh dispute There seems
little likelihood of an early exit from the deadlock between Azerbaijan
and Armenia republics on the Qarabagh issue, an Azeri official says.

Negotiations aimed at achieving a settlement to the Qarabagh problem
has reached a deadlock, IRNA quoted Azerbaijan’s deputy foreign
minister, Araz Azimov as telling reporters on Friday.

Commenting on the three-hour talks the advisor to the US foreign
secretary and the American head of the Minsk Mediation Group on the
Qarabagh dispute, Mathew Braisa, had with the Azeri foreign minister,
Almar Mohammadyarov, he added that the negotiations toward settling
the issue had reached a dead end.

Accusing Armenia of failing to offer any clear position on the matter,
Azimov added that the plan for the phase by phase settlement of the
issue was the most effective way out of the current deadlock.

In his meeting with Mohammadyarov, Mathew Braisa regretted the lack
of any concrete results from the recent talks between presidents of
the two countries that took place in St. Petersburg.

On whether they were likely to have another meeting, he said that so
far the two countries seem unable to agree even on a meeting between
their foreign ministers.

The two countries’ dispute over Qarabagh goes back to 1992 and all
efforts by international organizations, including the Minsk Group,
sponsored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe,
have up to now failed to come up with a solution.