BAKE PLAYS DOWN RUSSIAN FM’S STATEMENT ON GARABAGH
AssA-Irada
October 6, 2008 Monday
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan and Armenia have not yet succeeded in agreeing issues of
principle regarding a settlement to the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh
conflict, a senior Azerbaijani official said while commenting on
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrovs recent statement. Novruz
Mammadov, the head of the Presidents Office international relations
department, said differences of opinion remain between Baku and Yerevan
on key issues of the peace process. The statement comes after Lavrov
said a number of issues of principle regarding the Garabagh conflict
settlement have been agreed. He emphasized that no agreement has been
reached on such key issues as the status of Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh,
an Azeri region under Armenian occupation, and Lachin corridor, and
the stationing of peacekeepers in the conflict zone. Mammadov deemed
disclosing the agreed issues as unnecessary, saying this could damage
the negotiating process. The Lachin corridor is a road connecting the
occupied Upper Garabagh region with the Armenian territory. Azerbaijan
and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a
cease-fire in 1994, but Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh
and seven other Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international
law. The OSCE-brokered peace talks have been fruitless so far.