Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
April 26 2008
Meeting with New Armenian Minister Will be of Familiarization
Character: Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan (Interview)
26.04.08 14:27
Latvia, Riga, 26 April /Special corr. Trend News R.Ushakov / TrendNews
interview with the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov.
Question: Is any advancement expected to take place with regards to
the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement in 2008, especially taking into
consideration the recent presidential elections in Armenia and
upcoming presidential elections in Azerbaijan?
Answer: We always expect advancements to take place as long as this
conflict exists and continues, and the time in this case does not work
for settlement of the conflict in its own account, it needs to make
efforts for its settlement.
In the recent months, the understanding that the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict should be settled only within territorial integrity,
sovereignty and inviolability of borders has acquired new
approvals. Particularly, they are specified in the Resolution of the
UN General Assembly and closing declaration of the NATO Summit in
Bucharest as well as statements of the Minsk Group member and
co-chairman countries.
We consider that it needs to use the time exactly in the context of
new leadership of Armenia in order to understand that the conflict
should be settled on the bases of norms and principles of the
international law, i.e. within territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.
Question: A meeting is planned to take place between you and the new
Foreign Minister of Armenia within participation in the meeting of the
Council of Europe Committee of Ministers in Strasburg on 6 May. What
do you expect from this meeting?
Answer: I gave consent to this meeting before my visit to Latvia. We
shall see the results of the meeting, but in my opinion, it will be a
familiarization meeting. Firstly the familiarization envisages
studying the reaction of the new leadership of Armenia to the
Nagorno-Karabakh settlement.
Of course, we believe that Armenia will take more constructive
position on the conflict settlement, and the understanding that the
conflict should be settled based on principles of the international
law will grow.
No-one can forcibly change the borders and territorial integrity of
states via ethnic cleansing and later, make requirements to gain
self-determination. Here one mutually excludes other one. If firstly
you carry out ethnic cleansing and later speak about
self-determination, it is absolutely not an acceptable model according
to the international law. In this case, only after re-establishing the
situation in occupied territories and returning displaced persons to
Nagorno-Karabakh, it will be possible to speak about advancement in
status, but again the status of Nagorno-Karabakh as part of
Azerbaijan.
Question: What steps does Baku expect to be taken by the European
Union as well as EU member-Baltic states in the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict settlement?
Answer: The President of Lithuania made an initiative to establish a
Group of GUAM Friends in the European Union and this idea was
supported by other Baltic states, including Latvia. Poland, Romania
and other states also supported the Group. We consider that taking
into consideration our past ` Latvia, other Baltic states
and Azerbaijan ` our understanding and explanation of the
situation should be shifted to other EU capitals as well. We
understand that our position being accepted by our Latvian partners
will find its reflection in other European capitals.
Question: The meetings with the senior officials of Latvia also
focused on the energy issues. Were discussions held on realization of
Nabucco gas pipeline being lobbied by the European Union, as well as
Odessa-Brody-Plotsk-Gdansk Pipeline?
Answer: Debates were organized on Nabucco during negotiations because
the Latvian side asked to clarify our position on Nabucco gas
pipeline. Principally Baku’s position is clear `
the gas pipeline is very interesting project and I think that it is
possible to realize it. In this regard, I informed my Latvian
colleague that the gas volume in the region is sufficient to implement
the first phase of the Nabucco gas pipeline. The topic of
Odessa-Brody-Plotsk-Gdansk Pipeline was also discussed. As you know,
the next energy summit will take place in Kiev in May which will fully
focus on the results of the works being done after the similar summit
in Vilnius. The meeting with the Latvian colleagues also covered this
topic. Currently we expect the results of feasibility study which
should be presented by Sarmatiya Company.
Question: Your Latvian colleague informed of several bilateral
agreements that the countries will conclude. Can you provide details
on them?
Answer: There are 13 documents between Azerbaijan and Latvia, which
are under consideration currently. These agreements deal with economic
issues, mutual legal consultations, financial and banking system.