January 12, 2006 - 13:46 AMT
Baku: Peacekeeping Mission in Karabakh Conflict Zone Most Distant Issue of Talks
Deployment of a peacekeeping mission in Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone is possible only after conclusion of an agreement over basic principles of settlement of the issue, stated head of the Foreign Relations Department of the Azeri President Novruz Mamedov. In his words, "the peacekeeping forces are to be basically situated at the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan." "The arrival of peacekeeping forces in the conflict zone is one of the latest issues to be negotiated. I.e. at first the basic principles of settlement should be agreed upon, then the details and the technical side of the issue. In order to fix implementation of the agreement such forces may be used," N. Mamedov said. Most of the peacekeeping contingent should be situated at the border between the two states, he added. "At the same time to prevent possible conflicts it is not ruled out that forces may be situated between the settlements, where members of the Armenian and Azeri communities of Nagorno Karabakh live," N. Mamedov summed up.