Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
October 28, 2008 Tuesday

ARMENIAN FM CLAIMS ACCORD CLOSE ON GARABAGH STATUS

Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian has said one step remains
to be taken in reaching agreement on the status of Upper (Nagorno)
Garabagh, referring to an Azeri region under Armenian occupation.
Nalbandian told the BBC Radio Azerbaijan bureau that if political will
was put forth, more issues regarding the conflict settlement would be
resolved. When the status issue is solved, the solution of all
remaining issues will be simplified.

The status should be determined by a referendum, through the
expression of free will of the people of Upper Garabagh, he
claimed. Bakus stance on the issue is intransigent. Azerbaijani
officials have repeatedly stated that Azerbaijans territorial
integrity must be restored. Talks on the status of Upper Garabagh may
be launched only after that, and a referendum to determine it is
possible only if the vote covers the entire territory of
Azerbaijan. The two South Caucasus republics 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. Peace talks have been fruitless so
far. Commenting on the statements suggesting that only one or two
issues remain to be resolved between the conflicting sides, Nalbandian
said: I dont think that nearly all outstanding issues have been
solved, with only one or two remaining. We are currently at the stage
asserted by the two countries presidents in St. Petersburg. The
Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders then reaffirmed their commitment to
further talks on the basis of the Madrid proposals, which were
proposed by the [mediating] OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs in November
2007. Nalbandian said Yerevan hoped an opportunity would emerge for
the next meeting of the two leaders after Azerbaijans October 15
presidential elections, and this meeting would invigorate peace
talks. During the last round of talks between Presidents Ilham Aliyev
and Serzh Sarkisian outside St. Petersburg, Russia early in June, the
Russian, French and US mediators offered alternate options on
resolving disputed issues to the heads of state. Although the gist of
the proposals was not disclosed, the co-chairs said they were
expecting responses from the two leaders. Although no decisions were
passed during the talks, the parties agreed to keep on negotiating on
the level of foreign ministers. Touching on Armenias relations with
Turkey, Nalbandian said their normalization had no bearing on his
countrys relations with Azerbaijan. Approaching the Armenia-Turkey and
Armenia-Azerbaijan relations in the same context is wrong. Nalbandian
said revitalization is expected in the Garabagh talks soon, but it is
unrelated to dialog between Yerevan and Ankara. He added that he was
optimistic about the future of Armenian-Turkish relations. At the same
time, he admitted that the Armenian community was discontent with the
efforts being made to normalize bilateral ties. Armenia and Turkey
have been at odds over historic differences and the border between the
two countries has been closed since 1993. The two neighboring states
maintain no diplomatic ties.