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OSKANIAN SAYS NO IMPASSE IN KARABAKH TALKS
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS: Foreign minister
Vartan Oskanian brushed aside today speculations that
the talks over the long-running Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict were at an impasse, describing the November
28 meeting of Armenian and Russian presidents in
Belarus as 'positive and constructive."
Oskanian said the presidents, who met on the
sidelines of a CIS summit, centered on those issues
which are not yet solved. 'Armenia would like the
presidents to reach a complete agreement on these
issues, but regretfully this is not the case yet and
there are disagreements both on basic principles and
details," Oskanian said.
He said the presidents will soon give clear
instructions and guidelines to their foreign ministers
to go on with the talks. Oskanian said there is a real
chance to break the impasse as the 2.5 page document
on the table is a rationale document which may offer a
fresh window of opportunity to resolve the conflict in
2007.
Oskanian then reiterated Armenia's fundamental
position that the dispute must be settled only on the
basis of the principle of self-determination saying a
referendum in Nagorno-Karabakh could eliminate the
conflict between this and the other principle of
territorial integrity, which Azerbaijan insists must
be respected.
He also commented on Azerbaijani president Ilham
Aliyev's remarks that the sides approached the final
stage of negotiations. "It is hard to say whether we
have indeed reached this point as there are still many
stumbling blocks, but if Mr. Aliyev thinks so then
Azerbaijan must agree to injecting the authorities of
Nagorno-Karabakh into the talks as the conflict cannot
be resolved without Karabakh participation in the
final stage," he said.
OSKANIAN SAYS NO IMPASSE IN KARABAKH TALKS
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS: Foreign minister
Vartan Oskanian brushed aside today speculations that
the talks over the long-running Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict were at an impasse, describing the November
28 meeting of Armenian and Russian presidents in
Belarus as 'positive and constructive."
Oskanian said the presidents, who met on the
sidelines of a CIS summit, centered on those issues
which are not yet solved. 'Armenia would like the
presidents to reach a complete agreement on these
issues, but regretfully this is not the case yet and
there are disagreements both on basic principles and
details," Oskanian said.
He said the presidents will soon give clear
instructions and guidelines to their foreign ministers
to go on with the talks. Oskanian said there is a real
chance to break the impasse as the 2.5 page document
on the table is a rationale document which may offer a
fresh window of opportunity to resolve the conflict in
2007.
Oskanian then reiterated Armenia's fundamental
position that the dispute must be settled only on the
basis of the principle of self-determination saying a
referendum in Nagorno-Karabakh could eliminate the
conflict between this and the other principle of
territorial integrity, which Azerbaijan insists must
be respected.
He also commented on Azerbaijani president Ilham
Aliyev's remarks that the sides approached the final
stage of negotiations. "It is hard to say whether we
have indeed reached this point as there are still many
stumbling blocks, but if Mr. Aliyev thinks so then
Azerbaijan must agree to injecting the authorities of
Nagorno-Karabakh into the talks as the conflict cannot
be resolved without Karabakh participation in the
final stage," he said.