AZERBAIJAN TO CONTINUE TALKS IN LINE WITH MADRID PRINCIPLES, IF ITS UPGRADED VERSION MEETS NATIONAL INTERESTS: RULING PARTY

Trend
July 29 2009
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan will continue talks in line with the Madrid principles
on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution, if its upgraded version
meets the country’s national interests, the governing New Azerbaijan
Party (NAP) said.

"As the upgraded version of the Madrid principles has not been yet
publicized, it is too difficult to comment on it. But if this version
meets Azerbaijan’s national interests, the country will continue
the talks in line with these principles," the NAP Deputy Executive
Secretary Mubariz Gurbanli told the party’s official Web site on
July 29.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan
lost all of Nagorno-Karabakh except for Shusha and Khojali in December
1991. In 1992-93, Armenian armed forces occupied Shusha, Khojali and 7
districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed
a ceasefire in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia,
France, and the U.S. – are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Gurbanli said if the upgraded version does not meet national interests,
Azerbaijan can offer to develop new principles and hold talks on
line with it. "Azerbaijan will not give up its basic position. The
Azerbaijani president said the conflict must be solved as part of
our country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. In this regard,
all solution versions must base on these factors," the NAP deputy
executive secretary said.