President declares Key West talks important

President Aliyev, who returned home Saturday night after a brief stopover in London, told journalists at the Bina airport that he regards meetings with his Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs as extremely important.

First of all, the President said he believes Azerbaijan has succeeded in promulgating to the whole world that Armenia is the guilty party to the conflict. Secondly, the parties sought ways of breaking the stalemate. President Aliyev spoke very highly of the meetings with US President George Bush and his administration.

Asked if the involvement of ethnic Armenians in the talks was a talking point, the President answered negatively.

In reply to the question whether the two presidents would meet in Moscow prior to the Geneva talks, the head of state said this had not been discussed either.

The President confirmed that the US Department of State statement in the run-up to the negotiations, whereby Armenia was for the first time named as occupant, indeed affected Yerevan’s position in the talks.

Touching upon the possibility of Iran’s joining the peace talks, the President said time would show.

Asked if the President doesn’t rule out a military way of solution in the wake of the Key West negotiations, he said the war is never ruled out, but there is no need for it at this point.

In response to a question why the two presidents didn’t meet in private, President Aliyev said it was not necessary with many meetings held in a new format.*