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BAKU: Azeri official dismisses Armenian threat to quit peace talks

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  • BAKU: Azeri official dismisses Armenian threat to quit peace talks

    Azeri official dismisses Armenian threat to quit peace talks

    Ekspress, Baku
    23 Dec 04

    Excerpt from report by Alakbar Raufoglu in Azerbaijani newspaper
    Ekspress on 23 December headlined "Iravan [Yerevan] is blackmailing:
    'We will officially walk out of the dialogue with Azerbaijan, if
    Nagornyy Karabakh is not involved in the talks'"

    The next meeting between the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign
    ministers will be held in Prague in mid-January, Armenian Foreign
    Minister Vardan Oskanyan has told Armenian Public TV.

    [Passage omitted: reported details]

    The non-involvement of Karabakh's separatist regime in the talks has
    no effect on Yerevan's position: "This is not about the strengthening
    or weakening of our position. Karabakh's involvement in the talks is
    a need. Despite Azerbaijan's approach to the problem, Azerbaijan and
    Karabakh are the parties to the conflict. Armenia is taking part in the
    talks because Baku does not want to talk to Xankandi [Stepanakert]. If
    Azerbaijan interprets our involvement in the talks differently and
    tries to change the essence of the issue, Armenia will refuse to take
    part in the dialogue. That's why, we want the settlement process to
    be held in the format of the [OSCE] Minsk Group. The inclusion of
    the issue in the UN agenda changes the format, and Yerevan will not
    be able to represent Nagornyy Karabakh in this format."

    [Passage omitted: more details]

    "One should put an end to unlimited manipulations in the Karabakh
    talks. Moves of this kind promise nothing positive to the peace
    process," the Azerbaijani deputy foreign minister and the president's
    special representative on the Karabakh issue, Araz Azimov, told
    Ekspress newspaper, commenting on Oskanyan's views on the need to
    involve the Armenian community of [Karabakh] in the talks.

    Baku hopes that the upcoming talks will be held "on the basis of
    more specific positions". Armenia should send "precise signals"
    in this connection.

    Azimov did not speak about the essence of the current discussions.
    "Everything will be clear after the next meeting. In any case,
    the discussions have been held for 14 years now. The international
    community has been making persistent statements on the process as
    well. All these factors will be recorded," Azimov said.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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