BAKU, APRIL 21, NOYAN TAPAN. The last statements of Armenian Foreign Minister V.Oskanian are constructive and demonstrate adherence to the process of peaceful negotiations. Tair Tagizade, Head of the Information and Press Department of Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, reported this to Trend. He meant V.Oskanian's April 20 statement, according to which "if Azerbaijan recognizes the Nagorno Karabakh people's right to determine its future status on its own, Armenia is ready to seriously discuss issues connected with liquidation of the consequences of the war". "This statement is evidence of the fact that the Armenian party intends to take an active part in the process of peaceful negotiations on settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani, Nagorno Karabakh conflict, T.Tagizade said. - De facto this statement is the confirmation of the Armenian party's adherence to the "stage-by-stage" settlement. As it is known, according to the "stage-by-stage" variant, at the first stage the issue of withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the regions surrounding Nagorno Karabakh is to be solved. There are also a lot of attendant elements here, including mine-clearing, restoration of communications, return of displaced people, provision of their security. And the second stage is the determination of the Nagorno Karabakh status". As for the self-determination, according to T.Tagizade, it is quite possible inside a state, too. "This is the very status of the highest autonomy we are speaking about. Thus, this can be estimated as the Armenian party's confirmation of its adherence to the process of peaceful negotiations and realization of the essence of the national interests of Armenia," he summed up. T.Tagizade also expressed an opinion in connection with V.Oskanian's statement that Armenia set itself a task to join the Transcaspian gas pipeline and has already started serious negotiations about this with U.S. "Armenia cannot carry on any negotiations with U.S. for a number of reasons. One of the reasons is that no regional projects are possible without Azerbaijan's participation, either as a starting-point as an exporter or as a transit state. We will consider cooperation with Armenia possible only after the settlement of the conflict and liquidation of its consequences," the representative of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry emphasized.

---