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Azerbaijani, Armenian leaders' next meeting can be turning point: MG Co-chair

Politics Materials 11 May 2009 16:06 (UTC +04:00)

Baku, May 11 / Trend , E.Ostapenko/

The next meeting between the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents in Petersburg in June can be a turning point in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, OSCE Minsk Group American Co-chair Matthew Bryza believes.

Bryza spoke about the Prague meeting between the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents and said that there was not any turning point at the meeting, but its basis had been laid.

"I hope such a turning point will be possible in a month when they [presidents] meet in Petersburg," Bryza said in his interview with "Ekho Moskvi" radio station.

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.

This meeting on the highest level was the 4th meeting between Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sarksyan 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.

A final resolution of the conflict must be achieved through a balance between the basic principles, including states' territorial integrity and nations' right to self-determination, and with except of forces, Bryza said.  

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.

The "basic principles" are the result of several meetings of foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2004 in Prague, called "the Prague process".

It is possible to build such a balance, but it is too difficult task, US Assistant Deputy Secretary of State Bryza believes. The negotiations are lasting too long and this fact causes difficulty of such a balance, he said.

"But I feel we are advancing at the moment," Bryza said.

The 12th of May is the 15th anniversary of signing a ceasefire between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

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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