Armenia, Azerbaijan `Close To Karabakh Deal'

[imported_RUDO]

Karabagh Summit Starts with Hopes

By Ali Ihsan Aydin, Rambouillet
Published: Saturday, February 11, 2006
zaman.com


The two-day summit in French capital, Paris, to find a solution to the Upper Karabagh issue started with messages implying “hope” on Friday.

French President Jacques Chirac expressed his expectation on finding a solution and separately met his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, and Armenian counterpart, Robert Kocharian, before the summit at Rambouillet castle, 40 kilometers outside Paris.

Emphasizing the summit is a chance to compose the foundation of an agreement, Chirac addressed to the leaders, “The actual situation should not be missed.”

After, the separate meetings, Aliyev and Kocharian convened at the castle. Both leaders are expected to reach an agreement during the talks.

Other members of the Minsk Group, France, the United States and Russia reportedly suggested both leaders a new proposal on the issue.

Kocharian in his statement before he arrived at Paris cited he was optimistic.

[Gavur]

Paris Talks Over Karabakh End Without Results

BakuToday 11/02/2006 09:56

Talks in Paris between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan to settle a long-running Karabakh conflict have ended without results Saturday, a day after they began, accordin to AFP.




But according to an unnamed diplomat, Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents Robert Kocharian and Ilham Aliyev have decided to take up negotiations again at a later, unspecified date.

Armenia controls Karabakh and seven surrounding regions equal to roughly 14 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally-recognized territory.

The leaders accompanied by their foreign ministers, began
face-to-face talks at the Rambouillet castle outside Paris Friday.

The closed door talks were directed by Russian, French and American mediators, under the supervision of the Organisation for Cooperation and Security in Europe (OSCE).

The OSCE said that 2006 represented a "window of opportunity" for making progress on the issue.

[Hovik]

Armenia, Azerbaijan Leaders Begin Talks
By ANGELA CHARLTON, Associated Press Writer
Fri Feb 10, 8:38 PM ET



The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan negotiated one-on-one Friday on ways to end the 18-year conflict over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, but reached no conclusion and planned more talks Saturday.

Armenian President Robert Kocharian and Azeri President Ilham Aliev also met with U.S., French and Russian mediators, who have been pushing for a settlement for a decade.

French President Jacques Chirac, who met separately with both leaders earlier, expressed hope that the talks in Rambouillet, south of Paris, will open "a new perspective for peace."

The talks close Saturday at the forest chateau at Rambouillet, a favored site for international peace negotiations. As the talks began Friday, mediators were more hopeful than they have been in years that a settlement is close.

The bloody six-year war and 12 ensuing years of simmering hostilities in the enclave have scared off investors and hobbled peace efforts throughout the strategic and oil-rich Caucasus region. The mountainous enclave is inside Azerbaijan, but populated largely by ethnic Armenians who have run it since an uneasy cease-fire in 1994.

U.S., French and Russian negotiators have been pushing for more than a decade for an agreement to end the fighting. At least 30,000 were killed and 1 million displaced in the 1988-1994 war. Sporadic border clashes have continued, killing scores of people a year and villages in and around the enclave remain heavily armed.

[Gavur]

Little progress for Armenia, Azerbaijan

By ANGELA CHARLTON, ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER







RAMBOUILLET, France (AP) - The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan failed to reach agreement Saturday after two days of talks on how to end the bloody conflict over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Hopes have built in recent months for settling the 18-year dispute that has killed at least 30,000 people. Some 1 million people have been made refugees in the hostilities, which have also hindered investment in the strategic, oil-rich Caucasus region.

But international observers said Armenian President Robert Kocharian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev made little progress during their one-on-one, closed-door negotiations at a chateau in Rambouillet, south of Paris.

"Despite intensive discussions, the positions of the parties on some difficult principles remained as they have been for some months," U.S., French and Russian mediators said in a statement.

Nagorno-Karabakh is inside Azerbaijan but populated mostly by ethnic Armenians, who have run it since an uneasy 1994 cease-fire ended six years of full-scale war. Sporadic border clashes among heavily armed villagers kill scores of people every year.

Going into the talks, the mediators had called the meetings the most important in years on the issue of Karabakh.

But after several hours of meetings Saturday, the U.S. mediator, Steven Mann, emerged exhausted and said: "There was no agreement."

The sticking points were the future status of Nagorno-Karabakh and whether Armenian forces would withdraw from the border town of Kelbajar, said a source close to the discussions, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.

A decade of international mediation has failed to end the conflict, which has hobbled peace efforts throughout the Caucasus. The dispute has dominated both countries' foreign policies since they became independent with the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

[Hovik]

Azerbaijani Fm: Territorial Integrity Of Azerbaijan And Return Of Refugees Obstacles

AZERBAIJANI FM: TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY OF AZERBAIJAN AND RETURN OF REFUGEES OBSTACLES IN TALKS IN RAMBOUILLET

BAKU, FEBRUARY 13. ARMINFO. Agreements were reached on the seven
of the nine issues discussed, Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar
Mamedyarov commented on the meeting with Armenian President in
Rambouillet (Paris) to the Azerbaijani Public Television.

The presidents disagreed on the issues of the "return of refugees
and forced migrants and the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan,"
the minister said. He emphasized that Azerbaijan will not go on any
territorial concessions.

[Gavur]

Armenian Leader Cuts Short Paris Talks Since He "values His Time", Official Says

Mediamax news agency
14 Feb 06

Yerevan, 14 February: The spokesman for the Armenian president,
Viktor Sogomonyan, said in an interview with Mediamax today that
"Robert Kocharyan values his time and thinks it's not serious to
imitate the talks even for prolonging his stay in beautiful Paris".

Mediamax reports that Viktor Sogomonyan said this in reply to a
statement by the head of the foreign relations department of the
Presidential Executive Staff, Novruz Mammadov, who said that "Robert
Kocharya left the talks in Rambouillet unfinished".

"In fact, on 11 February in Rambouillet the Armenian president proposed
to generalize the talks when it became evident that no results will be
achieved. President Kocharyan values his time and believes that it's
not serious to imitate the talks, even for prolonging his stay in a
beautiful Paris. As for the statements voiced by Mr Mammadov, I can't
speak about his goals. However, we witness signs of bad upbringing
of a mid-level official who permits himself to comment on the actions
by another country's president," Viktor Sogomonyan stressed.

[Gavur]

Us Congressman: People Of Nagorno Karabakh Bravely Defended

US CONGRESSMAN: PEOPLE OF NAGORNO KARABAKH BRAVELY DEFENDED THEIR RIGHT TO LIVE IN THE TERRITORY OF THEIR ANCESTORS

https://www.regnum.ru/english/593203.html

11:13 02/20/2006

Recently, Congressman of New-York State Michael McNulty spoke in the
House of Representatives, informs press office of Nagorno Karabakh
Foreign Ministry.

According to the Ministry, McNulty congratulated people of Nagorno
Karabakh with annual celebration of Nagorno Karabakh independence
movement, when on February 20, 1988, people of Nagorno Karabakh
addressed the USSR government with request to undo the decision on
Joseph Stalin and unite them with Armenia. That request caused severe
reaction of the Soviet and the Azerbaijani authorities, followed by
a full scale military aggression on Nagorno Karabakh, but people of
Nagorno Karabakh bravely defended their right to live at the territory
of their ancestors, said the Congressman.

He also noted that today Nagorno Karabakh continues to strengthen its
state system with democratically elected government, capable armed
forces and independent foreign relations policy.

[Hovik]

Ghukasyan: Armenia Should Give up talks with Azerbaijan

Source: PanARMENIAN.Net
URL: http://www.panarmenian.net/news/eng/?nid=16520
Date: 21.02.2006 14:11 GMT+04:00


Ghukasyan: Armenia Should Give up talks with Azerbaijan
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ President of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Arkady Ghukasyan is sure there is a sole way Nagorno Karabakh can join the talks: Armenia should give up negotiations with Azerbaijan. «As long as Armenia holds dialogue with Azerbaijan without Karabakh, Baku will not agree to talks with Stepanakert,» Ghukasyan stated. In his words, «Baku is actually interested in talks only with Armenia, as they gain a good propagandist effect from that format: it is easy to prove that Armenia is an aggressor and has seized Azeri lands.» «I have a formula: when Baku holds talks only with Armenia, it is engaged in propaganda. When it begins negotiating with Nagorno Karabakh it will be a signal to me that Azerbaijan is trying to solve the issue,» the NKR President stated in an interview with RFE/RL.
! Reproduction in full or in part is prohibited without reference to «PanARMENIAN.Net».

[Gavur]

Kocharian: Armenia To Recognize Nkr De Jure In Case Of Negotiations' Failure

YEREVAN, MARCH 3, NOYAN TAPAN. In spite of the failure of the
negotiations in Rambouillet, there are still chances to reach agreement
by the means of negotiations. RA President Robert Kocharian stated
about this in the March 3 TV interview. But if Azerbaijan suddenly
states that it is impossible any more to reach success by the means
of negotiations and it will make attempt to solve the issue in the
military way, then Armenia, according to Kocharian, will undertake the
following states: - De jure recognition of the Republic of Nagorno
Karabakh by the RA. - Legal formulation of the RA responsibility
for the NKR security, according to which any assault towards the NKR
will be observed as an assault towards Armenia. - Strengthening of
the security zone created round Karabakh. According to Kocharian,
this strengthening must be implemented "by a completely new, more
all-embracing approach," but he didn't make clear what is meant
by this. - More active integration with the NKR in the security
issue. - Deeper implementation of reforms in Armenia to support
productive development of the economy for Armenia becomes even
more competitive in the region. Kocharian qualified this goal as
"the most important." According to Robert Kocharian's estimation,
the Minsk Group Co-Chairmen act with their upmost possibilities and
commissions at present. According to the President, the Co-Chairmen
have acted agreed at least during the last 6-7 years. Kocharian also
emphasized that "negotiations of Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh
with Armenia's active participation" would be the right format of
the negotiations on the Karabakh conflict. But Armenia participates
in the format of the bilateral negotiations with Azerbaijan, though
this has a negative side: owing to this, Azerbaijan makes an attempt
to create the impression that Armenia is an aggressor. "In reality
nobody is interested in those reasonings any more.

Everybody knows about the essense of the conflict and understands
that Azerbaijan's refusal to negotiate with Karabakh arises of the
[inferiority] complex that is connected with consequences of the
war." And instead of this, negotiating by this format, the Armenian
side wins in three issues: Armenia can present interests of the
Armenian side more productively than the NKR which isn't recognized
officially. Being the active side of the negotiations, the RA
President and Foreign Minister present the Karabakh issue during
all their international meetings the possibility of what the NKR
authorities don't have. The Armenian President's involvement takes the
RA responsibility in the NKR issue to a very high level. In reality,
according to Kocharian, though Karabakh doesn't participate in the
meetings but it participates in the negotiation process as before the
meetings he consults with the NKR authorities and the international
negotiators do the same.

[Gavur]

Baku Knows Next War May End in Liquidation of Azerbaijani State

04.03.2006 00:27 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The TV interview of the Armenian President may be considered to be an indirect answer to the statements by the Azeri party, political scientist Levon Melik-Shahnazaryan told PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. In his words, Robert Kocharian did not restrict himself to the subject but on the other hand it became impossible not to react to the permanent militaristic statements by the Azeri officials. “I think Robert Kocharian’s response was a sober assessment of the reality and was full of virtue and pride in his country,” the political scientist said.

Levon Melik-Shahnazaryan considers that the Armenian leader’s interview caused embarrassment in Azerbaijan. “I did not find a single serious answer or comment on Azeri websites. To all appearance, Azerbaijan for the first time received strict response to its calls for military settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. After all, there are competent people in Azerbaijan, who perfectly know that the next war may end not only in defeat but liquidation of the state called Azerbaijan,” he stressed.