Xinhua, China
Aug 24 2005
Armenian, Azerbaijani FMs wish for Nagorno-Karabakh settlement
2005-08-25 01:58:24
MOSCOW, Aug. 24 (Xinhuanet) — Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mamedyarov were
hopeful Wednesday of progress in settling the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict after a day of discussions in Moscow.
“There is hope that we’ll find common denominators, which
wouldbring peace and stability to southern Caucasus,” Oskanyan told
theItar-Tass news agency.
Self-determination is the priority in settling the conflict of
Nagorno-Karabakh, which also requires attention to some other issues
such as elimination of the consequences of the conflict, the
territorial issue and the return of refugees.
Nagorno-Karabakh is a mostly ethnic Armenian enclave now
controlled by Armenia. Azerbaijan lost control of the region
following an armed conflict with Armenia in the 1990s.
Mamedyarov spoke positively of the Moscow meeting but said it is
premature to talk about any headway in resolving the conflict.
It is necessary to actively work on the settlement and there isan
opportunity “to arrive at a common denominator for this problem,”
Mamedyarov said.
Wednesday’s meeting gathered the foreign ministers of Armenia,
Azerbaijan and Russia as well as representatives of the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe and was meant to pave the way
for the meeting of the presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan later this
week, when leaders of former Soviet republics will gather in the
Volga River city of Kazan for a summit meeting.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at the start of
themeeting that Russia hopes progress will be made in negotiations
over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Talks on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict began in
1991 and involved Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia and Kazakhstan. Enditem