Elmar Mammadyarov: "Nagorno Karabakh can have autonomy status similar to Nakhchivan, Tatarstan, Bashkiria"

"The issue on the status of Nagorno Karabakh is given priority in the document," Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov told journalists.

According to APA, he said the status of Nagorno Karabakh was on focus in the negotiating process.

"We need to consider the form of autonomy to be given to Nagorno Karabakh. This autonomy can be in Nakhchivan, Tatarstan, Bashkiria and in other models. There exist conceptual issues regarding the status. The issue of status should be considered together with communities of Nagorno Karabakh, and relations should be established between these communities," Mr.Mammadyarov said.

Commenting on Armenian parliament speaker Tigran Torosyan's claims that Azerbaijan artificially delays the negotiating process, Mammadyarov called these claims groundless.

"I have met with my Armenian counterpart more than ten times since I took the post of Foreign Minister. We are ready to continue the negotiations. The conflict is a sensitive issue. We realize that it can be solved through stages not in package form," The Foreign Minister said.

The Minister also said Armenia's intention to make public the results of all the talks held shows its non-interest in the resolution of the conflict.

He also commented on recent massive fires in the occupied Azerbaijani territories set by Armenian Armed Forces, "The Foreign Ministry has written to the OSCE chairman Karel de Gucht. Personal representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzei Kasprzyk will arrive in Baku. He will leave for the front zone to investigate the issue of fires."