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Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
August 25, 2006 Friday
FIRES AS A MOOT POINT
by Sohbet Mamedov, Anatoly Gordiyenko
BAKU WANTS THE KARABAKH ISSUE DISCUSSED BY THE UN. YEREVAN THREATENS
TO QUIT PEACE TALKS; Yerevan threatens to withdraw from Karabakh
talks if Baku has the issue discussed at the UN level.
Armenian Representative to the UN, Armen Martirosjan, told RL the
other day that Yerevan might quit the peace talks if Baku initiated
discussion of the issue at the UN. According to Martirosjan, Armenia
and Azerbaijan made a pact in 2005, that the problem would be handled
exceptionally by the OSCE Minsk Group chaired by Russia, France, and
the United States together, and that official Baku would refrain from
trying to transfer the issue to the UN level.
Martirosjan told RL that Azerbaijan had recently sent a letter to the
UN urging it to "facilitate restoration of the territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan." "Armenia may quit the negotiations altogether if
Azerbaijan... tries to bring the matter of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict resolution to the UN," Martirosjan was quoted as saying.
Armenian diplomat's ultimatum raised eyebrows in official Baku. "The
Armenian Foreign Ministry has never responded. Why would the Armenian
Representative to the UN speak on behalf of the Armenian state?"
Metin Mirza of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Press Service said.
Mirza believes that it was the Armenian diplomat's personal opinion.
As for the negotiations, "its suspension is not even discussed,"
Mirza said. Moreover, another meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian
foreign ministers might take place in September. Chairmen of the OSCE
Minsk Group do insist on this meeting, Mirza added.
Official Baku in the meantime is trying to have the Karabakh issue
discussed at the UN and at the autumn session of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe. The matter concerns the fires
raging on the Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenia. Baku
suspects that "the Armenian side caused these fires deliberately"
particularly since the prevailing winds drive them to the positions
of the Azerbaijani army. Baku wants the "fire issue" resolved by the
UN and the Parliamentary Assembly.
Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, August 22, 2006, p. 6
Translated by A. Ignatkin
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
August 25, 2006 Friday
FIRES AS A MOOT POINT
by Sohbet Mamedov, Anatoly Gordiyenko
BAKU WANTS THE KARABAKH ISSUE DISCUSSED BY THE UN. YEREVAN THREATENS
TO QUIT PEACE TALKS; Yerevan threatens to withdraw from Karabakh
talks if Baku has the issue discussed at the UN level.
Armenian Representative to the UN, Armen Martirosjan, told RL the
other day that Yerevan might quit the peace talks if Baku initiated
discussion of the issue at the UN. According to Martirosjan, Armenia
and Azerbaijan made a pact in 2005, that the problem would be handled
exceptionally by the OSCE Minsk Group chaired by Russia, France, and
the United States together, and that official Baku would refrain from
trying to transfer the issue to the UN level.
Martirosjan told RL that Azerbaijan had recently sent a letter to the
UN urging it to "facilitate restoration of the territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan." "Armenia may quit the negotiations altogether if
Azerbaijan... tries to bring the matter of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict resolution to the UN," Martirosjan was quoted as saying.
Armenian diplomat's ultimatum raised eyebrows in official Baku. "The
Armenian Foreign Ministry has never responded. Why would the Armenian
Representative to the UN speak on behalf of the Armenian state?"
Metin Mirza of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Press Service said.
Mirza believes that it was the Armenian diplomat's personal opinion.
As for the negotiations, "its suspension is not even discussed,"
Mirza said. Moreover, another meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian
foreign ministers might take place in September. Chairmen of the OSCE
Minsk Group do insist on this meeting, Mirza added.
Official Baku in the meantime is trying to have the Karabakh issue
discussed at the UN and at the autumn session of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe. The matter concerns the fires
raging on the Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenia. Baku
suspects that "the Armenian side caused these fires deliberately"
particularly since the prevailing winds drive them to the positions
of the Azerbaijani army. Baku wants the "fire issue" resolved by the
UN and the Parliamentary Assembly.
Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, August 22, 2006, p. 6
Translated by A. Ignatkin