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Bulgarian FM continues shuttle between Armenia, Azerbaijan

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  • Bulgarian FM continues shuttle between Armenia, Azerbaijan

    Bulgarian News Network, Bulgaria
    March 18 2004


    Bulgarian foreign minister continues shuttle between Armenia, Azerbaijan

    SOFIA (bnn) - Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Solomon Passy urged
    Wednesday Armenia's leaders to resume talks with Azerbaijan about the
    future of the latter's Armenian-dominated breakaway province of
    Nagorno Karabakh, the BGNES news agency reported.

    Passy, who is chairing the Organization for Security and Cooperation
    in Europe, met Armenia's Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan and
    Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanyan. He was scheduled to meet President
    Robert Kocharyan later in the day. On Tuesday Passy held talks on the
    Nagorno Karabakh issue with Azeri President Ilham Aliev.

    Azerbaijan's autonomous region of Nagorno Karabakh, which is
    populated mainly by Armenians, petitioned to become part of Armenia
    towards the end of the Soviet era. Serious fighting erupted in 1991
    and in the following two years Armenian forces gained control of
    Nagorno-Karabakh and occupied almost 20 percent of Azeri territory.

    The leaders of the Nagorno-Karabakh region have declared
    independence, though this status has not been recognized by any
    state. The fighting between Azeris and Armenians left more than
    15,000 dead.

    Armenian leaders on Wednesday voiced readiness for negotiations with
    Azerbaijan, but emphasized on what they see as Azerbaijan's ethnic
    Armenians' right of self-rule, the report said.

    Passy met also the head of Armenia's Apostolic Church Garegin II, who
    also spoke in favor of dialog with Azerbaija, the agency said. /bnn/
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