RIA Novosti, Russia
Jan 11 2005
PUTIN: MOSCOW READY TO ACT AS INTERMEDIARY IN SOLUTION OF CONFLICTS
IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS
MOSCOW, January 11 (RIA Novosti) – Russia will act in the settlement
of Karabakh conflict and relations between Turkey and Armenia only as
an intermediary, stated Vladimir Putin during a meeting with Turkish
businessmen in Moscow.
Answering a question posed by the Turkish media, the Russian
President announced that during the meeting the sides did not discuss
the Karabakh problem. “We touched upon general issues of relations
between countries in the region – Russia and Armenia, Armenia and
Turkey,” Mr. Putin said.
Both sides, he stated, expressed the desire to establish friendly
relations among neighbors.
“Russia will do everything possible to settle the conflicts remaining
on the post-Soviet space, including the long-lasting Karabakh
conflict,” Mr. Putin announced. “However, we will do it only as an
intermediary and guarantor of agreements which are going to be
reached by conflicting sides.”
The ceasefire agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which has
been lasting for more than ten years, and the involvement of
international intermediaries in the framework of the OSCE Minsk group
did not bring the sides any closer to the final solution of the
conflict. Baku insists on the primacy of territorial integrity, the
return of self-proclaimed Nagorny-Karabakh republic to the
jurisdiction of Azerbaijan and the withdrawal of Armenian
(occupation) forces.
The Turkish Prime Minister, in his turn, called for future
improvement of relations with Armenia.
He reminded that Turkey has already opened the Istanbul airport for
flights from Armenia. The land border is still closed and its opening
will depend on the progress of negotiations between the two
countries, the Turkish Prime Minister underlined.
He stressed that Turkey was interested in the development of
relations with Armenia. “We do not wish to have resentful neighbors,”
he stated.
The Armenian authorities demand that Ankara officially apologize for
the genocide of Armenianpeople (according to Yerevan) committed by
the Ottoman Empire in 1915.