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  • BAKU: Azeri, Armenian leaders give the go-ahead to Prague format for

    Azeri, Armenian leaders give the go-ahead to Prague format for Karabakh talks

    ANS TV, Baku
    16 May 05

    Following a meeting in Warsaw between the presidents of Azerbaijan
    and Armenia, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said that
    although their talks "did not make a significant breakthrough" they
    had agreed for the respective foreign ministers to continue the talks
    in the presence of OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. In a news conference
    after the talks Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev noted that his
    meeting with the Armenian president "lasted about three hours". The
    following is the text of the report by Azerbaijani TV station ANS on
    16 May. The subheadings have been inserted editorially:

    [Presenter] The presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Ilham Aliyev and
    Robert Kocharyan, discussed in Warsaw the tension on the front-line,
    the prospects for resolving the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict and the
    regional situation. Aliyev also held a meeting with Turkish Prime
    Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

    The meeting between Ilham Aliyev and Robert Kocharyan was also
    attended by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen as well as Russian and
    French Foreign Ministers Sergey Lavrov and Michel Barnier.

    No significant breakthrough

    The meeting was first held in an expanded format [with all delegates
    present] and then the president had two-hour tete-a-tete talks.
    The talks started at about 2300 [1800 gmt] Baku time and ended at 0100
    [2100 gmt]. The presidents did not make statements for the press.

    Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov told ANS TV that the
    talks did not produce a significant breakthrough. The presidents
    gave the go-ahead to the Prague format of the talks [talks in Prague
    between Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers in the presence
    of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs].

    News conference

    After a meeting with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Azerbaijani president
    and Turkish prime minister answered reporters' questions.

    [Aliyev] Today I had a meeting with the esteemed [Turkish] prime
    minister. We meet at almost every international forum. We have in-depth
    debates on bilateral issues. Regional processes and the maintenance
    of regional security were the focus of our meeting. At the same time,
    today I had a meeting with the Armenian president.

    The meeting lasted about three hours. I filled the esteemed prime
    minister in on the issues discussed at the meeting. Our relations
    are developing well. Turkey and Azerbaijan are strengthening their
    positions in the region. We shall soon inaugurate the major energy
    project - the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. This project unites
    us and will be conducive to a new stage in our relations. I hope that
    the two friendly and fraternal states will further support each other
    and our peoples will be together for ever. Thank you.

    [Erdogan] I thank the esteemed president. We had a chance to assess
    the state of relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan before the
    start of the third summit of the Council of Europe. In the meantime,
    I thank the president for briefing me on the meeting with the Armenian
    president. We, as two fraternal and friendly countries, always discuss
    such issues and never remain indifferent to them. We remain keenly
    interested in resolving the current problem and steps being taken
    for the resolution of the conflict. We want this problem be resolved
    as soon as possible in order for peace be restored in our region. I
    thank you and wish fruitful work to the third summit of the Council
    of Europe.

    [Aliyev] You know that our positions are clear. This issue has been
    discussed for many years and the sides have their own positions and we
    reviewed them again today. You know that our foreign ministers often
    meet and discuss different issues. We shall not issue a statement for
    the press today as it is early yet. I hope that the negotiations will
    produce results and the issues between us will be resolved.
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