AZERI OFFICIAL CRITICAL OF US POLICY ON KARABAKH
Azad Azarbaycan TV
April 17 2008
Azerbaijan
[Presenter] US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice should display a
well-founded position while expressing her views on the settlement
of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. An official of the presidential
administration, Novruz Mammadov, has said that it is impossible to
agree with Rice’s latest statement on the conflict settlement.
[Correspondent] Baku does not totally agree with US Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice’s latest statement on the settlement of the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. The state secretary’s statement that –
if Armenia and Azerbaijan show a little political will, the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict may be solved quite quickly – does not really
reflect the reality, the head of the foreign relations department of
the presidential administration, Novruz Mammadov, has said.
[Novruz Mammadov in his office] Relevant staff members should
give Condoleezza Rice accurate information about this conflict,
the essence of the negotiations, the essence of the position of
the parties and their principles so that Mrs Condoleezza Rice can
express a substantiated opinion about this conflict, i.e. express a
well-founded position. This is the main issue.
The US secretary of state should take account of cooperation and
strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and America and its future
and declare one day that a fair solution to the Armenian-Azerbaijani
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict is a priority for US policy.
[Correspondent] As for the recent Department of State statement on the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, Novruz Mammadov said that such statements
had been made before as well. However, the latest events allow
Azerbaijan to reconsider the negotiating process on the settlement
of the conflict.
[Mammadov] Is it possible to be sure that the [OSCE] Minsk Group
co-chairs are totally neutral in this issue? Or are the countries
represented in the Minsk Group really taking a resolute position on
a fair solution to the conflict? I think that such statements are
correct, but the Minsk Group co-chairs, as leading states of the
world and as states that form the world order and form, support and
guarantee international law, should reconsider their position.
We want to discuss the status of Nagornyy Karabakh by granting it the
highest and broadest degree of autonomy on the basis of Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity. Why are these countries not taking a specific
position on the seven districts that surround Nagornyy Karabakh and
are larger than Nagornyy Karabakh?
[Correspondent] Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan says that his
country is not afraid of Azerbaijan’s threats. Baku explains only
by one reason Sargsyan’s statement that Azerbaijan should understand
that Nagornyy Karabakh’s independence is an undeniable fact.
[Mammadov] In fact, they are saying all this out of fear. All Armenians
have a strong fear in their hearts at the moment. They know that
the Sword of Damocles will fall on the heads one day. They are held
hostage by their own ideas and separatism, because Serzh Sargsyan
himself and everyone around him have committed so many tragedies on
the wave of separatism.
[Correspondent] The department head said that separatists are usually
unaware of international law. For this reason, the Armenian leadership
endangers the future of its own people with such ideas. He should
understand that the Armenian people have already exercised their
right to self-determination. It would be better if Sargsyan would be
surrounded by people who are aware of law so that they do not lead
their people to a disaster, end quote.
Aytan Musayeva and Ramil Ismayilov, "Son Xabar".