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'Last Chance For Armenia,' Threatens Aliyev

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  • 'Last Chance For Armenia,' Threatens Aliyev

    'LAST CHANCE FOR ARMENIA,' THREATENS ALIYEV

    Asbarez
    Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

    BAKU (Combined Sources)-"This is the last chance for Armenia to leave
    the occupied lands voluntarily for the sake of its own future and its
    own security," threatened Azeri President Ilham Aliyev Tuesday during
    the inauguration of a center for the so-called "Azeri Community of
    Nagorno-Karabakh," reported the Turan news agency.

    The threat comes two days after Aliyev held talks with Secretary of
    State Hillary Clinton, who urged both sides to refrain from "use of
    force or the intention of use of force" to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh
    conflict.

    In his lengthy remarks, Aliyev said that Azerbaijan had accepted the
    updated Madrid Principles drafted by the OSCE Minks Group that is
    mediating the peace process.

    He said the time had come for Armenia to adopt the principles,
    accusing Yerevan of deliberately delaying the process.

    The Azeri President said his country's growing economic and military
    potential and the strengthening of its position in the international
    arena will help it restore its territorial integrity.

    "Today our army is able to solve any task," the Azerbaijani President
    said. Aliyev, however, did not touch upon the mechanism of development
    of the final legal status of Nagrono-Karabakh during his speech.

    In related news, Azerbaijan has denied Armenian claims that Russian
    President Dmitry Medvedev presented his Armenian and Azerbaijani
    counterparts with a new international plan to end the Nagorno-Karabakh
    conflict at their meeting in Saint Petersburg last month, reported
    Radio Free Europe.

    Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian referred to them as "a new version
    of the Madrid principles" of a Karabakh settlement at a joint news
    conference in Yerevan with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
    on Sunday.

    President Serzh Sarkisian likewise spoke of "the latest version" of
    the proposed framework accord as he met with the visiting French,
    Russian and U.S. co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group on Saturday. A
    statement by his office said the document was "presented in the course
    of the Saint Petersburg negotiations between the presidents of Armenia,
    Russia and Azerbaijan."

    The Azei Foreign Ministry dismissed these statements late on Monday.

    "Even though Russia plays a large role in this process and the
    Russian president has taken part in several meetings [between Aliyev
    and Sarkisian,] proposals are drawn up only by the [Minsk Group]
    co-chairs," Azerbaijani news agencies quoted the ministry spokesman,
    Elkhan Polukhov, as saying.

    "Updated Madrid proposals exist only in the form of a document, and
    they were submitted to both parties last year," Polukhov said. "Only
    various approaches were discussed in Saint Petersburg. The statement by
    Nalbandian is only aimed at distracting the Armenian and international
    publics from the essence of the issue."

    The three co-chairs made no mention of the Saint Petersburg in a
    statement issued after their latest tour of the conflict zone. They
    instead reiterated the U.S., Russian and French presidents' joint calls
    for the parties to "take the next step and move towards completing work
    on the Basic Principles to enable the drafting of a peace agreement
    to begin." They also urged the sides to "strictly observe the 1994
    ceasefire and exercise restraint along the Line of Contact."

    "During their visit, the Co-chairs also presented to the parties their
    plan to undertake a mission to the occupied territories in this fall,
    which was accepted in principle," added the statement.




    From: A. Papazian
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