March 10, 2005 - 06:53 AMT
TERMS OF RECURRENT MEETING OF ARMENIAN AND AZERI FMs TO BE DETERMINED WITHIN NEXT FEW DAYS
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian has called the information that Armenia and Azerbaijan intend to conclude an agreement over settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict not true. In his words, there is no concrete arrangement on a new meeting of the Armenian and Azeri Presidents yet. As of the dialogue of the Foreign Ministers of the two countries, Vardan Oskanian noted that the terms of the recurrent meeting will be determined within the next few days. The head of the foreign department of Armenia did not agree with statements that «Armenia is losing the settlement process.» In his words, the issue of self-determination of the Nagorno Karabakh people remains priority for Yerevan. However, Vardan Oskanian added, «there is also the territorial element present, as the territory, where the Nagorno Karabakh has determined itself has never been part of independent Azerbaijan.» «The hybrid of these two approaches strengthens our position in the talks,» he noted.