KARABAKH MEDIATORS, AZERBAIJANI MINISTER HOLD TALKS

news.az
March 9 2010
Azerbaijan

OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs The OSCE mediators have discussed the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov in Paris.

Following their talks on 6 March, the mediators issued a brief
statement.

‘The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs (Ambassador Yury Merzlyakov, the
Russian Federation; Ambassador Bernard Fassier, France; Ambassador
Robert Bradtke, United States) met with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister
Elmar Mammadyarov in Paris, where they held a working session.

‘They assessed the current stage of the negotiations and considered
comments of both the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides on the updated
Madrid Principles, which were presented to them by the co-chairs in
December 2009 and January 2010. The co-chairs plan to meet Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian in Paris later this month for a
similar discussion, prior to going to the region.’

The Azerbaijani foreign minister reiterated Azerbaijan’s position that
‘the updated principles are accepted in general, but there are elements
that do not suit us’, according to state-run news agency AzerTAj.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was also the dominant theme of the
Azerbaijani foreign minister’s talks with Jean-David Levitte,
diplomatic advisor to the French president.