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Azerbaijani, Armenian Presidents may meet in June

21 March 2007 12:31 (UTC +04:00)

Azimov spent much of his address to the European Parliamentâ€™s South Caucasus delegation explaining why Kosovo should not be a precedent for Nagorno Karabakh conflict.
RadioLiberty quoted the deputy minister saying "Kosovo issue is different from the Azerbaijani issue, the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict. In this conflict, we have an open territorial claim by Armenia. We have an open war erupted in 1992; even earlier we had these military hostilities,â€? Azimov stated, APA reports.
The EU has made clear it will not use a Kosovo resolution as a blueprint for any of the so-called frozen conflicts in the former Soviet Union while it was allegedly feared that the solution to the Kosovo conflict could be set a precedent to the Nagorno Karabakh issue, an Azeri enclave occupied by Armenia. Brussels says Kosovo is a unique case because it alone is administered by the United Nations.
Azimov also argued that territorial solutions should reflect the views of all sides in a conflict. To do otherwise, he said, would undermine international law.
Hannes Swoboda, a senior Socialist European deputy, helped draft a parliament declaration on Kosovo. He told Azimov he accepts the Azerbaijani argument that the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh is quite different from that of Kosovo.
But, he added, both cases are similar in the sense that it may be "too late" to return to pre-conflict conditions. Itâ€™s a fact, he suggested, that all the governments involved should accept.
"I think Kosovo never will be part of Serbia again," Swoboda said. "[That] time is over. And at the same time, there may be some parallel here for Nagorno-Karabakh. The question is not â€˜What is the legal point of view? Who is right?â€™ The legal point is clear -- itâ€™s an occupied territory. But the question is what the key is to the future that is good for Azerbaijan, Armenia, and the people in Nagorno-Karabakh?"
The Azerbaijani deputy foreign minister also said Baku prefers a negotiated peaceful solution to the problem. Azimov said Aliyev and his Armenian counterpart, Robert Kocharian, are planning to meet for negotiations on the issue soon after the May 12 parliamentary elections in Armenia. The presidents are expected to meet in early June. /APA/