By Armen Zakarian
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said on Friday that he has “partly recovered” from a prolonged illness that was the official reason for the postponement of fresh Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks on Nagorno-Karabakh. Oskanian, who has been suffering from an acute cold, spoke with RFE/RL as he entered the Foreign Ministry building in Yerevan early in the afternoon. He said he now feels better and can work for a few hours a day. He said he has been working on a part-time basis since Wednesday.
Oskanian had been scheduled to be in Prague on Wednesday for an important meeting with Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov mediated by American, French and Russian diplomats. The meeting was put off indefinitely. An Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman told RFE/RL on Wednesday that Oskanian needs “at least one week” to regain his health.
According to Oskanian, a new date for the talks will likely be set “in the coming days.” “Nothing is clear yet,” he said.
The talks are part of the so-called “Prague process” which has revived hopes for a peaceful resolution of the Karabakh conflict.
(Photolur photo)