Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia plan to continue trilateral meetings

Armenian Foreign Ministry press-service reported Nalbandyan met his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammedyarov Friday in New York.

 

OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs Matthew Bryza, Bernard Fassier and Yuri Merzlyakov and OSCE CIO Personal Representative Envoy Andzej Kasprzyk also attended the meeting, Arminfo News reported on Saturday.

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The negotiations for settlement of Karabakh conflict on the basis of Madrid Proposals made in 2007 were on agenda of the negotiations. The parties confirmed the necessity of peaceful settlement of the conflict, the report added.

 

Afterwards, the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan met vis-a-vis and discussed the ways to bring the stances of the parties closer and the possibilities of organizing a new meeting of Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

 

TRILATERAL MEETING

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said on Friday that Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian and Azerbaijani Foreign minister Elmar Mammadyarov suggested him to continue tripartite talks to establish a better political dialogue and an understanding forum.

 

The three foreign ministers made a press release after the historical meeting in New York.

 

"I met Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers today to assess regional matters. We believe that Caucasus has a very big potential. We also believe that we will be able to achieve success in case we manage to restore peace and stability in the Caucasus. This will be very good for the welfare of our peoples and at the same time will assist regional stability and peace," Babacan was quoted as saying by the Anatolian Agency.

 

"We discussed Caucasus Cooperation and Stability Platform, an initiative suggested by Turkey, and started to negotiate some specific regional matters during today's meeting."

 

Armenian Foreign Minister Nalbandian said his country welcomed the initiative on Caucasus Cooperation and Stability Platform suggested by Turkey.

 

Referring to his meeting with Babacan that took place prior to the tripartite meeting, Nalbandian said stability, security and cooperation in the region lie under the idea of this Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform.

 

He said they also discussed the steps that were and would be taken to fully normalize bilateral relations.

 

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Mammadyarov in his statement said they discussed Turkey's suggestion for the platform and the recent ongoing developments in the region.

 

Mammadyarov said everybody was aware that there were risks and difficulties in the region. "The problems should be overcome. We think this initiative is timely. We may establish a more understanding regarding how to cope with the important developments in the region."

 

Asked when the next meeting would take place, Armenian Foreign Minister said, "very soon".