Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Feb 16 2008

Armenia must continue talks despite election results – Azeri official

Baku, 16 February: "The negotiations on the settlement of the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict should be continued on the basis of the
work that has been carried out so far," Novruz Mammadov, head of the
foreign relations department of the presidential administration, has
told APA in an interview.

Speaking about the possible impact of the 19 February presidential
elections in Armenia on the negotiations, Mammadov stressed the
importance of continuing the negotiations regardless of who is
elected president.

"Armenia is such a situation today that it does not need to start
everything again and create a problem for itself. On the other hand,
certain work has been carried out in the process of the negotiations.
The international community and organizations are involved in this
work. Armenia must continue the negotiations regardless of who is
elected president. This also meets the interests of the Armenian
state and people. They have no other alternative. In the current
situation, developments in the region and worldwide have backed the
Armenians into a tight corner in some way. They know that Armenia has
no prospect of development if the Nagornyy Karabakh problem is not
solved. For this reason, the negotiations should be continued as soon
as possible. Azerbaijan does not want to spend another five years
waiting for the conflict to be solved."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress