AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTER: "SOME CHANGES HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED TO THE MADRID PROPOSALS"

Today.Az
/politics/49451.html
Dec 5 2008
Azerbaijan

"Foreign ministers of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries have
proposed some changes into the Madrid proposals to the parties to the
Karabakh conflict for entering a new stage, said Azerbaijani Foreign
Minister Elmar Mamedyarov.

The Minister also noted that these changes must be considered and
analyzed and "the meeting will be held after it on the level of either
the Foreign ministers or the presidents",

Commenting on Matthew Bryza’s statements about the soonest meeting
of the Presidents, Mamedyarov noted that the meeting will be held
next year.

Commenting on the issue whether the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan
will be fixed in the political declaration of the OSCE, the Minister
explained: "Well, let’s see if this declaration will be adopted at all,
this issue is just being discussed at the moment".

On the other hand, he noted that the issue of the territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan is not challenged by anyone and Armenia is the only
country which tries to do it.

Commening on Nalbandyan’s statement that Azerbaijan misinterprets
the principles of the Moscow declaration, Mamedyarov noted that this
document is undersigned by the presidents of the conflict parties,
including the President of Russia.

Speaking about the recent talks with Foreign minister of Turkey
Ali Babacan, the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan said the following:
"The issue on opening borders between Turkey and Armenia before the
resolution of the Karabakh conflict was not on the agenda. This is a
sovereign right of the two states. Butthe position of Turkey regarding
the occupied lands of Azerbaijan was discussed in details. In this
context Turkey’s position was voiced repeatedly and this, certainly,
strongly affects the relations between Turkey and Armenia".

As for the issue of holding a referendum, Mamedyarov explained that
before holding any arrangement, it must first be prepared. In the
absence of Azerbaijanis in Karabakh it is impossible to speak of legal
provision. Armenians say that Karabakh has held its referendum. But
how did they hold it? In conditions of war and guns. Such referendums
can be held every day. We suggest to create conditions for it,
and this becomes more urgent in the context of the recent events in
the Caucasus. Progress and predictability in the region is needed,
including in the resolution of conflicts. At the same time, there is
an understanding that the conflict solution will take much time. It
all must be done considering the fact that communications must be
restored, people must be returned and so on".