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Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia agree on basic principals of resolving of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: Co-chair (UPDATE 4)

Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict Materials 7 May 2009 17:42 (UTC +04:00)

Czech Republic, Prague, May 7 / Trend , M. Hulpachova/

Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia have agreed on basic principles of resolving of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, OSCE Minsk Group American Co-chair Mettew Bryza said to journalists in Prague on May 7.

He said that the next meeting was expected to take place in St. Petersburg in coming weeks.

During the EU summit Eastern Partnership in Prague, Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia held meetings in the U.S. Embassy and discussed the issue on resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Today's meeting on the highest level was the 4th meeting between Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan on resolution to Karabakh conflict. The previous meeting was held in Zurich on Jan. 28, 2009. The first meeting was held in St.Petersburg in June and second in Moscow in November 2008.

The agreements carry preliminary character, and therefore Co-chairs refrained from making the details public, Trend correspondent said from Prague

The "basic principles" envisages the final definition of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh through nation-wide voting at the last stage of the peace process, after all other measures of confidence are taken, including non-use of force, gradual withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the occupied territories, return of internally displaced persons to their lands and restoration of trade and relations. "Basic principles" is the result of meetings of Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers in Prague since 2004, which was called "Prague process".

Presidents do agree on the basic approach. It's now up to us, the co-chairs to actively work through the details and finalize these concepts, as requested by the ministers. We plan in coming weeks to work together with the ministers, Bryza

Bryza said he did not feel today's discussion was overshadowed by the parallel discussion of normalizing Armenian-Turkish relations.

The Turkish-Armenia normalization is a separate, although parallel process.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the single most important issue for each country. Nothing overshadows these negotiations.  

Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia Elmar Mammadyarov and Edward Nalbandyan refused from making comments to journalists on the results of the meeting.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.

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