Azeri Pres calls forthcoming Azerbaijan-Armenia talks crucial

Azeri Pres calls forthcoming Azerbaijan-Armenia talks crucial
By Sevindj Abdullayeva, Viktor Shulman
ITAR-TASS News Agency 
September 11, 2004 Saturday
BAKU -- Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that his meeting
with Armenian President Robert Kocharian as part of the CIS summit
in Astana, Kazakhstan, in mid-September will have crucial importance
for settling the dragged-out conflict in Nagorny Karabakh.
As he addressed correspondents in the town of Barda, western
Azerbaijan, Saturday, Aliyev said: "That meeting may introduce clarity
into the situation so that we could see where we actually are at the
moment and whether we're getting closer to an agreement or drifting
away from it".
He also said the co-chairmen of the so-called Minsk group for Nagorny
Karabakh settlement, set up by the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe, had made known their willingness to attend
the Azerbaijani-Armenian talks in Astana.
"I'm for it, too," Aliyev said.
When he was asked about his own assessment of the current situation,
he said there were no agreements between the sides at the moment.
"But even without breaking the confidentiality of the negotiations
process, I can tell you we have fair chances of reaching such
agreements," Aliyev said.
As he met with a group of refugees in the Barda district earlier in
the day, he said Azerbaijani government envisioned an increase of
defense spending in 2005
"It will strengthen our Armed Forces and will make the army one of
the guarantors of settling the Karabakh conflict," Aliyev said.
He reiterated that Azerbaijan is seeking a peaceful solution to
the conflict.
"As long as there is hope for that [peace settlement], we'll continue
the talks, but if they prove ineffective, the Azerbaijanis will free
the occupied territories by any means," Aliyev indicated.
"We have all the prerequisites for it - the patriotic spirit and
moral mobilization of our people, and the persistently growing
economic potential".
As he addressed a meeting with public representatives in Barda on the
same day, Aliyev said: "The people of Azerbaijan must be prepared to
liberate its occupied lands by force".
The conflict in the mostly Armenian-populated Karabakh enclave has
been going on since 1988 along a pattern similar to most ethnic
conflicts on the territory of the former USSR.
Karabakh's Armenians are trying to win independence from Azerbaijan. In
the early 1990's, the tensions between the sides took the form of
open armed hostilities.
Efforts to settle the conflict have been made for years, but they
have produced insignificant results so far.