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ANKARA: Azerbaijan-Armenia Agree On Turkey-Led Nagorno-Karabakh Plan

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  • ANKARA: Azerbaijan-Armenia Agree On Turkey-Led Nagorno-Karabakh Plan

    AZERBAIJAN-ARMENIA AGREE ON TURKEY-LED NAGORNO-KARABAKH PLAN

    Hurriyet
    Feb 11 2009
    Turkey

    Armenia and Azerbaijan reached a partial agreement on a solution
    plan for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The agreement came after the
    Turkish foreign minister's contacts with officials from both countries,
    Hurriyet daily reported on Wednesday.

    The sides agree on the four points of the draft plan that aimed at
    resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Hurriyet added.

    According to the plan, Armenia will return some of the towns
    surrounding the Nagorno-Karabakh region to Azerbaijan in a specific
    timetable and repatriate the Azeris who were forced to leave the
    regions, the report said.

    The administration of the Nagorno-Karabakh region will be handed to
    a provisional body and Kelbejer will be returned to Azerbaijan after
    the status of the region is determined, Hurriyet added.

    The railroad and highway between Azerbaijan and Armenia will be
    opened, while an international peace force will be deployed at the
    border region between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, the report said.

    Officials said any step taken towards the solution of the
    Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will have a positive impact on Turkey-Armenia
    relations. Turkey closed its borders with Armenia in the 1990s to
    protest Yerevan's occupation of Azerbaijani territory.

    BABACAN'S CONTACTS

    Hurriyet said the agreement came after the busy meeting traffic of
    Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan. He met with Armenian Foreign
    Minister Eduard Nalbandian and President Serzh Sargsyan on the
    sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.

    He later held a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar
    Memmdyarov on the plane on their way to Ankara. On board, the two
    ministers took the snap decision not to land in Ankara but travel onto
    Baku where they met with Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev on Monday.

    Nagorno-Karabakh, a frozen conflict legacy of the Soviet Union, has
    been standing at the center of Azerbaijan-Armenia and Turkey-Armenia
    relations. Turkey closed its borders with Armenia due to Yerevan's
    aggression against Azerbaijan.

    The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia began in 1988 on Armenian
    territorial claims over Azerbaijan. Since 1992 Armenian Armed Forces
    have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan including the Nagorno-Karabakh
    region and its seven surrounding districts.

    Both countries continue with fruitless peace negotiations. The OSCE
    Minsk Group, co-chaired by the United States, Russia, and France,
    is engaged in efforts to the conflict peacefully.
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