ARMENIA FM WELCOMES THE IDEA OF A TRILATERAL MEETING

armradio.am
30.10.2008 15:54

The Foreign Ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia will meet in
Moscow tomorrow. The next day the Ministers will meet the OSCE Minsk
Group Co-Chairs. These two meetings will prepare ground for the meeting
of Presidents of the three countries, the Foreign Minister of Armenia,
Edward Nalbandian told a press conference today. The Foreign Minister
reassured that the negotiations on the Karabakh conflict settlement
proceed within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group on the basis of
the Madrid Proposals.

Edward Nalbandian noted that the Minsk Group is an acting format,
enjoys the support of the international community and there is no
need to search for a new format. The Foreign Minister welcomed the
initiative of Russia to organize the meeting of the three Presidents,
underlining that Russia has always demonstrated a balanced position
on the issue.

The Foreign Ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey had a short
meeting in New York, during which they discussed Turkey’s proposal
of creating a Cooperation and Stability Platform in the Caucasus. The
meeting took place at the initiative of the Turkish Foreign Minister.

"Turkey’s mediation in the Karabakh settlement is out of the
question. Turkey can contribute to the process by normalizing the
relations with Armenia, opening the borders and, maybe, exerting
some influence on Azerbaijan by making the latter demonstrate a more
constructive stance in the talks. Turkey could do something useful
in this sense," Edward Nalbandian said.

We are negotiating the issues of establishment of diplomatic
relations with Turkey, opening of the border and normalization of
Armenian-Turkish relations, in general. This means that the Karabakh
issue cannot be a precondition, either.