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Armenian minister in Moscow may discuss withdrawal from Azeri land - daily
Ekho, Baku
6 Jul 04
Text of N. Aliyev and R. Orucov report by Azerbaijani newspaper Ekho
on 6 July entitled "Yerevan stated its readiness to liberate seven
districts", and subheaded "Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul
disclosed details of negotiations between foreign ministers of
Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey"
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan flew to Moscow for an
official visit yesterday. During the visit "special stress" will
probably be laid on the Karabakh problem, Ekho has reported.
To all appearances, Oskanyan has really got something to talk about
with his Russian counterpart. Especially in the light of an article
published in Turkey's Zaman newspaper. In an article headlined
"Yerevan gives the first sign of surrender", the newspaper notes that
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan, who was in Turkey last week
for the NATO summit, hinted that Armenian forces could leave all the
occupied Azerbaijani territories, except Karabakh itself.
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul gave this information to Zaman.
According to him, Oskanyan said: "We can free all the territories
except Karabakh." Moreover, Azerbaijani [Foreign] Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov reacted positively, Gul said. "An important step has been
taken in resolving the Armenian problem," Gul announced.
The press service of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry refused to
comment on this topic yesterday, saying that the Istanbul negotiations
of the three foreign ministers were confidential.
In turn, Novruz Mammadov, head of the international relations
department of the Presidential Executive Staff, considered it
premature to give an assessment of the Zaman statements.
"The tripartite negotiations in Istanbul took place behind closed
doors," Mammadov said and advised us to wait for the return of
[Foreign Minister] Elmar Mammadyarov, a direct participant in the
meeting. The latter is currently at NATO headquarters in Brussels,
where cooperation between the North Atlantic alliance and Azerbaijan,
within the framework of a fresh individual cooperation programme, is
being considered.
MP Samad Seyidov, head of the Azerbaijani delegation in the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, finds the
information, published in the Turkish paper, in full conformity with
the overall situation. "Events around the Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict are developing in the right way. That is to say, the
international community is extraordinarily interested in the
integration of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia into economic and
political organizations with a Euro-Atlantic orientation.
"Analysing the situation in our region, they conclude that the state
of affairs here is indeed rotten. A country states that it adheres to
democratic values, but in fact has destroyed all possible and
impossible values that are in place in the Western and European
world."
But the West is ready to accept the region only in conformity with its
own interests and values.
"Therefore, concrete examinations started after the emergence of this
interest. And this is connected with the possibilities of taking
decisions on our conflict. And the approval of their decisions by our
sides will be compulsory," Seyidov said.
The MP believes that that the occupied territories will sooner or
later be returned to Azerbaijan. "As for Nagornyy Karabakh directly,
we have frequently said that there can also be no talk about these
territories. The matter boils down to the fact that the problem must
be resolved stage-by-stage, first, the liberation of the occupied
territories around Nagornyy Karabakh, and then the discussion of its
status. This is completely natural and this is that stage-by-stage
settlement to the conflict about which we have always spoken."
Therefore, Samadov said, "the fact that now Turkish, European papers
and Oskanyan himself, to a certain extent, hint at this option shows
once again that our position is correct".
Ekho, Baku
6 Jul 04
Text of N. Aliyev and R. Orucov report by Azerbaijani newspaper Ekho
on 6 July entitled "Yerevan stated its readiness to liberate seven
districts", and subheaded "Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul
disclosed details of negotiations between foreign ministers of
Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey"
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan flew to Moscow for an
official visit yesterday. During the visit "special stress" will
probably be laid on the Karabakh problem, Ekho has reported.
To all appearances, Oskanyan has really got something to talk about
with his Russian counterpart. Especially in the light of an article
published in Turkey's Zaman newspaper. In an article headlined
"Yerevan gives the first sign of surrender", the newspaper notes that
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan, who was in Turkey last week
for the NATO summit, hinted that Armenian forces could leave all the
occupied Azerbaijani territories, except Karabakh itself.
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul gave this information to Zaman.
According to him, Oskanyan said: "We can free all the territories
except Karabakh." Moreover, Azerbaijani [Foreign] Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov reacted positively, Gul said. "An important step has been
taken in resolving the Armenian problem," Gul announced.
The press service of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry refused to
comment on this topic yesterday, saying that the Istanbul negotiations
of the three foreign ministers were confidential.
In turn, Novruz Mammadov, head of the international relations
department of the Presidential Executive Staff, considered it
premature to give an assessment of the Zaman statements.
"The tripartite negotiations in Istanbul took place behind closed
doors," Mammadov said and advised us to wait for the return of
[Foreign Minister] Elmar Mammadyarov, a direct participant in the
meeting. The latter is currently at NATO headquarters in Brussels,
where cooperation between the North Atlantic alliance and Azerbaijan,
within the framework of a fresh individual cooperation programme, is
being considered.
MP Samad Seyidov, head of the Azerbaijani delegation in the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, finds the
information, published in the Turkish paper, in full conformity with
the overall situation. "Events around the Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict are developing in the right way. That is to say, the
international community is extraordinarily interested in the
integration of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia into economic and
political organizations with a Euro-Atlantic orientation.
"Analysing the situation in our region, they conclude that the state
of affairs here is indeed rotten. A country states that it adheres to
democratic values, but in fact has destroyed all possible and
impossible values that are in place in the Western and European
world."
But the West is ready to accept the region only in conformity with its
own interests and values.
"Therefore, concrete examinations started after the emergence of this
interest. And this is connected with the possibilities of taking
decisions on our conflict. And the approval of their decisions by our
sides will be compulsory," Seyidov said.
The MP believes that that the occupied territories will sooner or
later be returned to Azerbaijan. "As for Nagornyy Karabakh directly,
we have frequently said that there can also be no talk about these
territories. The matter boils down to the fact that the problem must
be resolved stage-by-stage, first, the liberation of the occupied
territories around Nagornyy Karabakh, and then the discussion of its
status. This is completely natural and this is that stage-by-stage
settlement to the conflict about which we have always spoken."
Therefore, Samadov said, "the fact that now Turkish, European papers
and Oskanyan himself, to a certain extent, hint at this option shows
once again that our position is correct".