AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
April 8 2010
Garabagh status `key’ in conflict settlement – Armenian FM
08-04-2010 05:35:12
Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian has claimed that the
status of Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh, an Azeri region under Armenian
occupation, remains a key issue in settling the Garabagh conflict.
`Without a solution of the main issue regarding the Garabagh problem `
Upper Garabagh’s status ` it is difficult to talk about resolving
other problems,’ Nalbandian maintained at a press conference
Wednesday. `Recognizing and enforcing the right of Upper Garabagh to
self-determination remains the main issue of a conflict settlement.’
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the
signing of a cease-fire in 1994, but Armenia continues to occupy Upper
Garabagh and seven other Azerbaijani districts in defiance of
international law. Baku says the status of Upper Garabagh could be
determined strictly within Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and only
after Armenian forces have pulled out of the occupied land and
Azerbaijani refugees displaced during the hostilities have returned
home.
Nalbandian added that the Madrid principles, a peace outline proposed
by the mediators in November 2007, are the basis for the ongoing peace
talks.
`The [mediating] OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs continue offering working
options for the conflict resolution, and this will be ongoing until a
rapprochement in the sides’ positions is achieved,’ the Armenian
minister said.*