The resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be found in 2006, Nizami Bahmanov, the head of the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh, stated on Monday after a meeting between the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister, Elmar Mammadyarov, and the head of the OSCE representative office in Belgium, Pier Schevalie.
Bahmanov said that during the talks he elaborated Schevalie about the plight of refugees and internally displaced people in Azerbaijan. “We support the Prague process, which stipulate by-stage resolution of the conflict. First it is necessary to liberate the occupied territory of Azerbaijan adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh [Azerbaijan’s enclave under Armenian occupation]. Then the refugees and internally displaced people should be returned back,” Bahmanov said. “In the next stage two communities of Nagorno-Karabakh can resolve the problem through dialogue,” he added.
According to Bahmanov, the Belgium diplomat said that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be either settled in 2006, or never. He reminded that in 2007-2008 Azerbaijan and Armenia will conduct elections, which would delay the process of conflict resolution for long period.
Mauricio Pavesi, head of the Baku Office of the OSCE attended in the meeting.