The Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian responded to the questions of “Arminfo” agency. The full text of the interview is presented below.
Q.: Mr. Minister, according to the information disseminated by Azeri media, US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Matthew Bryza declared in Baku that Turkey can have its contribution to the process of the Karabakh conflict settlement and help Armenia demonstrate more flexible position. What’s your opinion about this view?
A.: If we believe in the citations of Azerbaijani media, then most probably Mr. Bryza incorrectly used the word Armenia instead of Azerbaijan, since Turkey can use its influence for making Azerbaijan’s position more flexible, deriving from the reality that Azerbaijani leaders have many times described the relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey as “one nation – two states.”
Q.: Does the information about the meetings of Armenian and Turkish diplomats in Switzerland correspond to reality?
A.: There have always been contacts between Armenian and Turkish diplomats and there is nothing extraordinary in these meetings.
Q.: There are talks about the three-way meeting between the Foreign Ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey. Will you confirm the information?
A.: As early as September 7 in Yerevan we arranged with the Turkish Foreign Minister to meet in New York on the sidelines of the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly. Mr. Babacan suggested to organize another meeting in a trilateral format. I do not mind organizing such a meeting.
Q.: The talks about the change of the OSCE Minsk Group are rather active today. To what extent are there grounded?
A.: The Minsk Group is the acting format of resolving the Karabakh conflict, which enjoys the support of the international community. The negotiations continue on the basis of eth proposals of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. I think that today good preconditions exist for the resolution of the issue, which can open new opportunities for regional cooperation for all countries.
Q.: According to Turkish media, some document is going to be signed during your meeting with Ali Babacan in New York. What would you say about the authenticity of this information?
A.: Upon the instruction of the Presidents of Armenia and Turkey, as a result of the talks with Turkey’s Foreign Minister Babacn we declared about our resoluteness to fully normalize the bilateral relations and we are trying to make steps in this direction. I hope we will move along that way without creating artificial obstacles fro each other.
Reported by Public Radio of Armenia
