DEPUTY FM OF AZERBAIJAN ‘DOES NOT RULE OUT FUTURE CONTACTS WITH ARMENIAN COMMUNITY OF KARABAKH’

ArmInfo
2009-03-24 10:04:00

ArmInfo. Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Araz Azimov ‘does
not rule out future contacts with the Armenian community of Nagorno
Karabakh’, A. Azimov said in an interview with BBC. To recall,
at the suit of official Baku, the negotiations on Nagorno Karabakh
conflict settlement are still running without direct participation of
the Karabakh party. Moreover, Azerbaijan refuses of any cooperation
with Armenia and NKR until conflict settlement.

Nevertheless, when asked will it be easier to solve the problem if
Azerbaijan starts directly contacting with them (Karabakh party –
ed.), Azimov replied: ‘We have never denied the opportunity of contacts
with the Armenian community of Karabakh. Such contacts in the future
are not ruled out. Moreover, they will be used when we approach the
stage of discussion of the issues concerning the social life of these
communities in Nagorno Karabakh, the issues of administration and
their security’.

"Armenia speaks about the nations’ right for self-determination and the
people living there when speaking about the Karabakh conflict, while
Azerbaijan speaks about the territorial integrity". A. Azimov somewhat
disagreed with the opinion saying the parties speak either about the
people or the territories. According to him, when talking about the
territoria l integrity, Azerbaijan always claims that a population,
consisting of two communities at least – Azerbaijani and Armenian,
will live in the territory of Nagorno Karabakh region in the structure
of Azerbaijan. When the Armenian party speaks about the problem of a
population, it means only the Armenian community. ‘Unfortunately, we
have not yet achieved full understanding and definition as regards the
necessity of returning the Azerbaijani population to the region. It
is not a question of the seven regions around Karabakh. The final
target of Azerbaijan is recovery of the territorial integrity and
peace among the communities in the NKR region and not return of the
seven regions’, A. Azimov said.