YEREVAN MIGHT LEAVE NAGORNO-KARABAKH TALKS

Interfax, Russia
Aug. 17, 2006

YEREVAN. Aug 17 (Interfax) - Armenia might leave negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh if Azerbaijan initiates a discussion of the issue at the UN, Armenia's representative in the UN Armen Martirosyan told the Svododa radio.

Martirosyan reminded reporters that last year Armenia and Azerbaijan reached an agreement that the Nagorno-Karabakh problem will be solved exclusively in the format of the Minsk group of the OSCE, whose co-chairmen are Russia, France and the U.S., and that Baku will not try to take the Karabakh issue to the UN.

Azerbaijan, however, recently sent a letter to UN, he said.

He said that Azerbaijan in its letter tried to initiate a discussion of the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh at the UN, and, in particular, was calling on the UN to "help in recovering the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan."

"If Azerbaijan persists in calling for a discussion of Nagorno-Karabakh at the UN, and attempts to push for a vote on issues related to Nagorno-Karabakh at the UN, Armenia may leave negotiations," he stressed.