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Armenia, Azerbaijan call for peace

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  • Armenia, Azerbaijan call for peace

    Press TV, Iran
    Nov 2 2008


    Armenia, Azerbaijan call for peace
    Sun, 02 Nov 2008 18:58:55 GMT



    Armenia and Azerbaijan agree to 'activate' efforts to resolve a
    decades-long conflict over a disputed territory, a joint declaration
    says.

    Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his Armenian counterpart Serzh
    Sarkisian signed the declaration on Sunday, calling for a peaceful
    resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh dispute.

    "¦[Both sides] continue their work... to agree on a political
    settlement to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict," the declaration said.

    The decision was reached during a meeting near Moscow hosted by
    Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who has been pushing for a peace
    pact to end the long-simmering conflict since October.

    The leaders also urged their foreign ministers to "activate" efforts
    in the negotiating process.

    Both Azerbaijan and Armenia claim the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh,
    which has a population mostly of Armenians but is located within
    Azerbaijan.

    Ethnic Armenian forces took control of the Nagorno-Karabakh along with
    seven surrounding regions during a war in the early 1990s. The war
    left thousands killed and forced nearly a million people on both sides
    to flee their homes.

    A ceasefire was signed in 1994 but the dispute has so far remained
    unsettled. Clashes often erupt along the ceasefire line and
    negotiations have so far proved fruitless.

    Armenian and Azerbaijani troops based in the region continue sporadic
    exchanges of fire.

    The US also proposed peace talks recently, promising to step-up its
    efforts to help secure a pact. Washington also echoed Moscow's hints
    that the region must avoid a recurring of the August war with Georgia
    over similar disputes.

    The meeting, which took place at Medvedev's residence, Meiendorf
    Castle, lasted less than three hours.
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