May 21, 2005 - 08:30 AMT
ARAZ AZIMOV: RETURN OF 7 REGIONS IS NOT FULL SOLUTION OF KARABAKH PROBLEM
"The Warsaw meeting of Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia should be considered as an important one. Its importance lies in the questions discussed at it directly referring to the Karabakh conflict settlement," stated Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Araz Azimov, Trend news agency reported. In his words, it can be considered that the Armenian party is ready to continuing the discussions. The diplomat noted that after the Warsaw meeting the talks at the level of Azeri and Armenian FMs will be continued in the near future. The Azeri Deputy FM noted that there were several elements among the questions discussed by the Presidents. "The matter concerns 7-9 elements. These are questions of withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied territories, return of these lands, security guarantees, forming conditions for return of the local population, the mine-clearing of the territories and their restoration. At the same time it was coordinated that sensitive political issues can be discussed at later stages. We suppose there is clarity in all those directions which can be considered an important achievement," Azimov said. In his words, "the liberation of the occupied territories is the main essence of the stand of Azerbaijan." "However liberation - is not the full solution of the problem," the diplomat emphasized. Azimov noted that within the conflict settlement framework all communications should be restored, including those linking Nakhichevan with Azerbaijan, the railway through the Meghri region of Armenia. "This fits the interests of not only Armenia and Azerbaijan, but also Russia, Georgia, Turkey and Iran, as it is a railway, which does not merely join two countries. It is part of the regional network. Thus it should be restored within the settlement framework," Azimov said. He also reported that before the meeting of the FMs the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are expected to visit the region, Regnum news agency reported.