AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT DISCUSSED IN MOSCOW PROSPECTS OF NAGORNO GARABAGH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT

Azerbaijan Business Center
Sept 17 2008
Azerbaijan

Baku, Fineko/abc.az. President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan finished
yesterday his short-term working visit to Moscow where he conducted
negotiations with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev and prime
minister Vladimir Putin.

Within talks the parties exchanged views on issues of bilateral ad
regional co-operation.

Following negotiations Aliyev claimed that along with matters of
bilateral character they covered regional processes, settlement of
Nagorno Garabagh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

"We expect further active role of Russia as OSCE Minsk Group co-chair
in the process of conflict settlement. Despite whole difficulty of
processes occuring in the region of the Caucasus it seems to us that
today there are good pre-conditions for conflict settlement that would
suit all the involved states’ interests and be based on principles
of international law. In case the conflict is settled, I am sure new
prospects for regional partnership in quite wide format will open,
that will be for favor of all countries. We live and will live in this
region with our neighbors and nobody is going to move from the region.

That is why it is necessary to seek and find mechanisms of
efficient co-operation and neighbourliness. I want re-stress that if
relationships between all the neighboring countries in our region
had been the same like the ones between Russia and Azerbaijan,
then, I assure you, there would have been neither conflicts nor
misunderstanding," the Azerbaijani leader said.

After August events around South Osetia and Abkhazia Matthew Braiza, US
co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group, dropped a hint of doubt in a possibility
to co-operate with Russia in such format.

Following yesterday’s Moscow talks president Medvedev also confirmed
that their debates included theme of Garabagh conflict settlement.

"We back continuation of direct negotiations between the presidents
of Azerbaijan and Armenia. Russia’s position in the matter remains
previous. In the future we are going to render maximum assistance
to search of mutually acceptable decision of this difficult matter
solution. I think that we have the right to hope for further contacts
on the issue in the nearest future," Medvedev said.

Nagorno Garabagh conflict de-facto started in 1988 from Armenia’s
territorial claims to Azerbaijan. By the start of the last decade
of the last century the conflict transferred in military stage and
Armenia succeeded to occupy 20% of Azerbaijani territory. Separatist
regime established on the occupied lands has not been recognized
by any country of the world, but two last presidents of Armenia
(including the current one) are "heroes" of Garabagh war. Since 1994
ceasefire regime has been operating between the conflict sides.