Baku Today
Aliyev meets Kocharyan
Baku Today 28/04/2004 19:46
Azerbaijani president Aliyev has met with his Armenian counterpart Robert
Kocharyan today to consider the ways of settling Karabakh conflict between
Armenia and Azerbaijan, according to ANS.
The two presidents have hold close meeting which lasted about two hours.
This is the second time Aliyev and Kocharyan have met over Karabakh issue.
Their first meeting was in December 2003 in Geneva of Switzerland.
Aliyev is now meeting with OSCE Minsk group’s chairmen.
Since 1997 United States, Russia and France have been jointly mediating
peaceful solution for Karabakh conflict in a group of three.
United States has recently appointed new chairman to the group.
Chairman of Washington based Central Asia-Caucasus Institute Frederick Starr
said, in interview to Azerbaijan’s Lider TV, new US spokesman at the Minsk
group Steven Mann is quite professional and knowledgeable person to advance
the group’s efforts for settling the conflict.
Yet Minsk group, Starr said, might have solved the problem long ago. As if
three chairmen have agreed orally to meet sometimes, he said, “to talk and
drink some wine.”
“This is cynicism,” said Starr adding “If the United States or Russia or
Europe wanted to solve this problem they could do that 10 years ago. Each
for some reason did not (solve)”.