THAT THE CORE OF THE NEGOTIATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS IS THE RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION

ARMENPRESS
June 11, 2008

The Meeting Of The Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents on June 6 in
Saint Petersburg was inspiring hope, quite positive, practical and
constructive as after it the presidents assigned foreign ministers
to continue the negotiations on the basis of the suggestions which
are currently on the table of negotiations, Armenian Foreign Minister
Edward Nalbandian said today in the NA.

He said that in the last week of June the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs
will visit the region to continue their efforts towards making the
positions of the two countries closer.

"We always spoke in favor of full participation of Karabakh in
the negotiations but it will be wrong to say that Karabakh is not
participating in the negotiations at all. During their visits to the
region the co-chairs met with the leadership of Nagorno Karabakh and
the Armenian side too before the negotiations is having consultations
with the Karabakh side, coordinating the approaches," the minister
said expressing hope that this time as well the co-chairs will meet
with the leadership of Karabakh.

"Sooner Karabakh becomes a negotiating side the better. If it depended
only on Armenia, it would have been so long time before but it also
depends on the Azerbaijani side. I hope that in case of relevant
development of the processes it will be impossible to reach the final
round without the participation of Karabakh," Nalbandian said.

Commenting on the statement of the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammedyarov that new colors have appeared in the negotiation process,
Nalbandian said that the Armenian side also hopes so. The minister
explained that during the meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart
he expressed the positions Armenia had during the recent months and
Azerbaijani minister presented their position.

The Armenian minister also reconfirmed that the core of
the negotiations and suggestions is the Karabakh’s right to
self-determination.