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Azeri foreign minister, US secretary of state discuss Karabakh

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  • Azeri foreign minister, US secretary of state discuss Karabakh

    Azeri foreign minister, US secretary of state discuss Karabakh

    Zerkalo, Baku
    8 Apr 06

    Excerpt from information department report by Azerbaijani newspaper
    Zerkalo on 8 April headlined "'Azerbaijan is a close US partner,'
    Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said during the meeting with Elmar
    Mammadyarov"

    "We would be very glad to see Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in
    Washington. The expanding of cooperation between the USA and
    Azerbaijan meet both sides' interests," US Secretary of State
    Condoleezza Rice said at the meeting with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister
    Elmar Mammadyarov yesterday [7 April in Washington]. During a
    three-hour meeting the sides discussed details of President Aliyev's
    forthcoming visit to the USA.

    Rice said that Azerbaijan was one of the close US partners in the
    South Caucasus. She noted that the USA and Azerbaijan had close
    positions and highly assessed Azerbaijan's steps to fight terrorism.

    She also said that the USA wished a speedy and peaceful solution to
    the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict because such a problem delays the
    regional development as a whole. She noted that the year 2006 might be
    a decisive year for the conflict's resolution and that the USA was
    ready to provide comprehensive assistance to the sides to tackle the
    problem.

    Mammadyaraov thanked Rice for a warm reception and told her that the
    Azerbaijani authorities had intensified their efforts to resolve the
    conflict. He said that Karabakh was an integral part of Azerbaijan and
    called on Washington to take a more active part in the resolution of
    this regional problem.

    The interlocutors also discussed Iran's nuclear programme. Mammadyarov
    said that our country backed the idea of holding talks on the basis of
    mutual understanding and offered a mediation role in these talks.

    He said that Azerbaijan's economic development was connected with
    security of the country and the region as a whole. With this purpose,
    Azerbaijan is ready to continue cooperation with the US
    administration.

    [Passage omitted: At his meetings with US congressmen, Mammadyarov
    discussed regional situation, Caspian energy security, bilateral ties]

    As part of the visit, Mammadyarov delivered a speech at the US
    Heritage Foundation. He said that although certain forces did not want
    speedy resolution of the Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijan still believes
    that it is impossible to change existing state borders in the modern
    world which does not accept expulsion of people from territories where
    they have lived for centuries.

    [Passage omitted: Mammadyarov also met OSCE Minsk Group's US
    co-chairman Steven Mann, Assistant Secretary of State for European and
    Eurasian Affairs Daniel Fried and Bush national security adviser
    Steven Hadley]
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