Mediamax, Armenia
Oct 12 2009

Armenian leader denies land return deal with Azerbaijan

Yerevan, 12 October: Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan stated today
that the recent statements of Turkish leaders were addressed mainly to
the Azerbaijani audience.

Mediamax reports that the president said this today, commenting on
yesterday’s statement of the Turkish prime minister, according to
which Armenia should return territories to Azerbaijan for establishing
diplomatic relations with Turkey and opening of the border.

"The ball is in the Turkish side of the field, and we have sufficient
patience to wait for development of events," the Armenian president
stated, adding that if Turkey ratifies the protocols, signed on
October 10, "we will do what we had announced about".

Commenting on the statement of the Azerbaijani president that he has
agreements, according to which Armenia will return territories to
Azerbaijan for establishing relations with Turkey, Serzh Sargsyan
stated that he does not know with whom Ilham Aliyev has reached such
agreements.

"We have never discussed the issue of returning territories with the
Azerbaijani president," the Armenian president stated, adding that
during the recent meeting in Chisinau, only issues of the interim and
the final status of Nagornyy-Karabakh were discussed.