A NEW VARIANT OF LAND SWAP WITH AZERBAIJAN WAS OFFERED TO ARMENIAN PRESIDENT IN THE USA, YEREVAN PAPER REPORTS

14.09.2000, MEDIAMAX, YEREVAN. A modified variant of land swap between Armenia and Azerbaijan was offered to Armenian president Robert Kocharian in the USA, reports today Yerevan “Aravot” paper.
According to the paper, giving to Azerbaijan the region of Meghri, which links Armenia with Iran, Armenia will get an “air bridge” with Iran.
During the past months the president of Armenia Robert Kocharian has repeatedly declared that the variant of land swap between Armenia and Azerbaijan was considered at the negotiations with the president of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev, but it was rejected by the Armenian side and it is no longer on the agenda.
At the meeting with the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk group in July 2000 Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margarian declared: “Despite the fact that Armenia speaks for a concessive solution of the Karabakh conflict, I consider unacceptable the very talks about land swap with Azerbaijan”. Margarian noted that Armenia is not going to make its territories of strategic importance the subject of negotiations. -0-