VARDAN OSKANIAN: I DO NOT RULE OUT THAT NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT WILL BE SETTLED TILL PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Dec 18 2007

I do not rule out that Nagorno Karabakh conflict will be settled till
presidential elections, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian
stated, APA reports.

Foreign Minister saying that he is optimist said that all wish the
conflict sides to reach an agreement at least on settlement principles.

"I am optimist and regard that the whole nation wants the conflict
sides to reach an agreement at least on settlement principles.

Following this, we have to work seriously, as we have to prepare
30-50 page peace agreement on these principles. The earlier conflict
sides reach an agreement on the settlement process, the better it is,"
he said.

Vardan Oskanian refuted reports on Armenia’s leaving process of
negotiations.

"We have never made such statement. Armenia does not intend to
leave the negotiations. There is a concrete document composed of
the proposals of OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs on negotiations table,
and the negotiations are carried out around this document," he said.

Vardan Oskanian said that official Yerevan insists on the settlement
of the conflict on the principle of nations’ defining their fate.

"This conflict does not have religious bases. If both Azerbaijanis and
Armenians were Christians, or the basic principles of the conflict
remained as they were before, the essence of the problem would not
have changed," he said.