Azeri minister says peace deal with Armenia not to be reached “soon”
MPA news agency
16 Aug 05
Baku, 16 August: [Azerbaijani] Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov
has ruled out the possibility that an agreement may soon be signed
with Armenia over [disputed region of] Nagornyy Karabakh despite the
predictions by some US experts. “Azerbaijan and Armenia have not yet
reached the level of signing a document,” he said.
Mammadyarov’s meeting with his Armenian counterpart Vardan Oskanyan has
been postponed till 24 August, as the council of CIS foreign ministers
will convene in Moscow on 23 August. The two ministers will head for
Kazan [Russia’s central republic of Tatarstan] following the meeting
on the same day, Mammadyarov said.
The sides will try to formulate a common concept of how to settle
the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. Mammadyarov said that seven to
nine elements of the settlement were on the agenda of the talks
with Armenia.
“Our first priority is to restore Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity
and to have refugees return to their native lands,” Mammadyarov
stressed.