ARMENIAN, AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTERS COMMENT ON PRAGUE TALKS

Vartan Oskanian told Armenian Public Television on 1 September that his talks two days earlier in Prague with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov on approaches to resolving the Karabakh conflict were "the most important" to date, Noyn Tapan reported on 2 September. The two ministers have met four times since late April. Oskanian added that the aim of the talks is to create the foundations, which do not yet exist, for discussing the "principal" and "more specific" issues. Mammadyarov for his part was quoted by the private television station ATV on 31 August as saying, "I would say for the first time that there is progress, we have made a step forward." Interfax on 1 September quoted Mammadyarov as telling journalists in Baku that "the negotiations were very interesting and thorough." Mammadyarov added that he also raised during his talks with Oskanian the Azerbaijani government's "grievances" concerning the local elections held last month in the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.