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Interfax News Agency, Russia
April 12 2008
Azerbaijan: N.-Karabakh independence will never be recognized
BAKU April 12
The Azeri foreign minister has argued that Armenia's efforts to
achieve the international recognition of the independence of the
disputed Armenian-speaking enclave of Nagorno- Karabakh in Azerbaijan
is a wild-goose chase.
"If they [the Armenians] really want the Karabakh conflict to be
resolved soon, they must first of all accept that the settlement of
this conflict must involve the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan,
something that the entire world community recognizes," Elmar
Mammadyarov told Azeri television channel Lider.
"Armenia should accept that there are no two ways about this," he
said.
"The earlier they realize that Nagorno-Karabakh is part of
Azerbaijan, the better for them and for the entire region," he added.
Earlier, the new Armenian president, Serzh Sargsyan, had pledged to
follow the line of his predecessor, Robert Kocharian, and promised to
seek independence for the enclave, which is the source of a
20-year-old conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
But that was a statement meant for the domestic audience, Mammadyarov
argued. "By unfounded statements of this kind Armenia slows down the
settlement process," he said.
Mammadyarov said there were no plans to involve Nagorno-Karabakh's
ethnic Armenian and Azeri communities in settlement talks, which are
today the prerogative of the Azeri and Armenian presidents and
foreign ministers.
The minister also said the Minsk Group, an Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe body mediating in the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, would issue a progress report in Vienna next week.
April 12 2008
Azerbaijan: N.-Karabakh independence will never be recognized
BAKU April 12
The Azeri foreign minister has argued that Armenia's efforts to
achieve the international recognition of the independence of the
disputed Armenian-speaking enclave of Nagorno- Karabakh in Azerbaijan
is a wild-goose chase.
"If they [the Armenians] really want the Karabakh conflict to be
resolved soon, they must first of all accept that the settlement of
this conflict must involve the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan,
something that the entire world community recognizes," Elmar
Mammadyarov told Azeri television channel Lider.
"Armenia should accept that there are no two ways about this," he
said.
"The earlier they realize that Nagorno-Karabakh is part of
Azerbaijan, the better for them and for the entire region," he added.
Earlier, the new Armenian president, Serzh Sargsyan, had pledged to
follow the line of his predecessor, Robert Kocharian, and promised to
seek independence for the enclave, which is the source of a
20-year-old conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
But that was a statement meant for the domestic audience, Mammadyarov
argued. "By unfounded statements of this kind Armenia slows down the
settlement process," he said.
Mammadyarov said there were no plans to involve Nagorno-Karabakh's
ethnic Armenian and Azeri communities in settlement talks, which are
today the prerogative of the Azeri and Armenian presidents and
foreign ministers.
The minister also said the Minsk Group, an Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe body mediating in the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, would issue a progress report in Vienna next week.