TOO EARLY TO TALK OF AZERBAIJAN-ARMENIA DEAL – MINISTER

Russia & CIS General Newswire
December 18, 2007 Tuesday 10:05 PM MSK

Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov argued on Tuesday that
an agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia on principles for the
settlement of the conflict between them over Nagorno- Karabakh was
impossible before presidential elections in the two countries in 2008.

"Let the co-chairmen of the Minsk Group of the OSCE [Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe] first come to the region in mid-
January 2008, we will have more negotiations and it is after that
visit that one will be able to say anything at all," Mammadyarov said
in answering a question from Interfax.

The Minsk Group is a body appointed by the OSCE to mediate in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"So everything else is so many populist statements," Mammadyarov added.

He also ruled out the possibility of Azerbaijan and Armenia signing
any secret conflict settlement agreement.

"Nobody wants any secret ‘Molotov-Ribbentrop pact,’ and that is
impossible anyway. The people must know what is being done and make
their assessment. We think that, in case we come to an agreement on
any principle or draft document that suits Azerbaijan and Armenia,
such information will be made public," the minister said.

The Molotov-Ribbentrop pact was a 1939 nonaggression treaty between
the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. It was named after the then
Soviet and German foreign ministers, Vyacheslav Molotov and Joachim
von Ribbentrop.

Mammadyarov said "people’s diplomacy" would have an important role to
play if Azerbaijan and Armenia brought their positions closer together.

He expressed support for possible future nongovernmental contacts
between the two countries. "We are neighbors, and I can see no problem
if our public at nongovernmental organization level holds discussions,"
he said.

Mammadyarov also said Azerbaijan had "grievances with certain points"
in a draft document on conflict settlement principles prepared by the
Minsk Group and put before him and his Armenian counterpart during
talks in Madrid.

"We have grievances but we are ready to work on them," Mammadyarov
said.

By and large, the Minsk Group’s proposals are not new, he argued.

They are "part of the Prague process, which has been going on for
three and a half years," he said.