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  • BAKU: Azeri, Armenian foreign ministers hold "sterile" meeting - pap

    Azeri, Armenian foreign ministers hold "sterile" meeting - paper

    Ekspress, Baku
    31 Aug 04

    The Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers, Elmar Mammadyarov
    and Vardan Oskanyan respectively, held another meeting in Prague
    yesterday [30 August], as they discussed ways of settlement of
    the Karabakh conflict with the participation of the OSCE Minsk
    Group co-chairmen. Besides the ministers, the special envoys of the
    Azerbaijani and Armenians presidents on the Karabakh conflict, Araz
    Azimov and Tatul Margaryan respectively, also joined the talks. This
    is Mammadyarov's fourth meeting with his Armenian counterpart.

    Two-hour meeting

    The talks started at 1630 Baku time [1130 gmt] ended at 1830 [Baku
    time, 1330 gmt]. The two-hour discussions held in a large group was
    followed by a face-to-face dialogue of the ministers. In their press
    statements following the talks, the ministers said that they had made
    "some successful and objective decisions" on continuing the dialogue
    "on the level of the existing realities". But the parties did not
    specify the nature of "the decisions" made "on the basis of the
    principle of being constructive".

    "This is another series of the Prague process, which has assumed a
    long-term nature. Specific issues were raised and views were exchanged
    during the talks," Oskanyan said.

    He said the parties discussed "friendly" ways of settlement that are
    based on mutual obligations. "We can continue the Prague process,"
    he said.

    Prague unlucky for Armenians

    The main emphasis was laid on the next dialogue of the [two countries']
    presidents. "We want the heads of state to conduct a 'dynamic dialogue'
    along with the ministers," Oskanyan said. He noted that he had received
    the "directions and blessings" of the Armenian president before
    visiting Prague, but it did not yield any fruits. "We hold discussions,
    talks, but cannot eventually come to a specific decision. Prague
    seems to be unlucky for us," the Armenian minister complained.

    Mammadyarov, for his part, said that the meeting had the nature of
    mutual discussions. "We are pleased with the dialogue on this level.",
    he said. The main outcome of the meeting is that the parties have
    agreed to continue the talks "in a positive spirit". "We did not
    discuss any specific proposals, we just expressed our opinion,"
    the minister said.

    What worries Azerbaijan is that during the talks the foreign ministries
    of both countries take "their proposals" as a basis and aspire to
    have the problem solved on their principles. Mammadyarov refused to
    answer questions on the proposals by the Armenian side.

    Issues pertaining to the recently escalating tension on the front-line,
    as well as the Armenian military exercises in the occupied Karabakh
    and the so-called municipal elections [there] were also discussed, as
    Azerbaijan raised its objections to Yerevan on these three issues. "We
    decided to treat these issues seriously and take into account their
    impact on the negotiation process. I hope these cases will be put an
    end to," Mammadyarov said.

    Status issue again

    Oskanyan told an interview with the A-INFO news agency yesterday
    evening that the foreign ministers got closer to the resolution of
    the problem again in Prague, but the opinions differed on the status
    of Nagornyy Karabakh. "The Azerbaijani side is again disrupting the
    order of the discussions. Therefore, we again had to hold discussions
    on identifying the format, getting acquainted with the positions of
    the parties and finding a common position. That is it."

    The Armenian minister thinks that the latest Prague talks cannot be
    regarded as "productive" judging by the results achieved. Nevertheless,
    he noted that "there is a necessary potential" to continue the
    dialogue.

    Speaking of possible options for the settlement of the conflict,
    Oskanyan said that it was important to reach agreement on the
    status of Karabakh, while other issues should be resolved within its
    framework. "I am ready to work with Mammadyarov on these conditions."

    Co- chairmen

    There was no proposal from the [OSCE Minsk Group] co-chairmen. "We
    did not see any such proposal. The co-chairmen just came and went
    away again," Oskanyan said.

    He believes it is impossible to await "any potential" news from the
    peace talks unless the co-chairmen present some "surprises" to the
    parties to the conflict. Because the current discussions have the
    aim of "coming to a dialogue".

    "Under these circumstances, I do not think that the co-chairmen could
    draft something on paper on the basis of the bilateral talks of the
    foreign ministers and the heads of state. There is no consensus of
    this kind yet", Oskanyan said.

    The Russian co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, Yuriy Merzlyakov,
    told Ekspress yesterday that the mediators gave a number of new
    proposals and ideas during the meeting of the foreign ministers. "We
    presented them with new proposals. Since these were open discussions,
    the proposals were also disclosed and it was quite a business-like
    meeting," he said. [Passage omitted: Merzlyakov happy with the talks
    and the schedule of next meetings.]

    Conclusion

    Thus, judging by the joint statement made by the Azerbaijani and
    Armenian foreign ministers yesterday, the Prague process "allowed
    them to exchange views on possible steps forward".

    In the statement, Armenia and Azerbaijan reiterated that "they are
    interested in settling the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict and agree to
    continuing this useful dialogue". Both ministers said it was necessary
    to continue the future talks "in the current course".

    It is hard to judge by these statements whether the Prague meeting
    was fruitful. One may generally conclude from the above mentioned
    diplomatic expressions that this meeting was sterile. In any case,
    both parties stick to their own positions and neither talks of making
    concessions so far. But on the other hand, the ministers meet behind
    the closed doors and we do not know what they bargain over... [ellipses
    as published]
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