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ANKARA: Caucasus Solution Called At G-8 Meet

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  • ANKARA: Caucasus Solution Called At G-8 Meet

    CAUCASUS SOLUTION CALLED AT G-8 MEET

    Hurriyet
    July 11 2009
    Turkey

    L'ACQUILA, Italy - The United States, France and Russia called Friday
    for the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to settle their long-running
    dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

    In a statement released from the Group of Eight summit in Italy,
    the three co-chairs of the Organization for Security and Cooperation
    in Europe, or OSCE, said they affirm their commitment to efforts
    by Armenia and Azerbaijan to finalize "the basic principles for
    settlement" of the conflict.

    Nagorno-Karabakh is an enclave in Azerbaijan that has been under
    the control of ethnic Armenian forces since a six-year conflict that
    killed some 30,000 people and displaced 1 million before a truce was
    reached in 1994.

    Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in support of Azerbaijan
    during its conflict with Armenia. Turkey and Armenia agreed in
    April on a "road map" deal for U.S.-backed talks that could lead
    to the normalization of ties and the opening of the border. Turkish
    officials have said Turkey will not open its border with Armenia before
    the neighboring country ends its occupation of Karabakh, reassuring
    Azerbaijani leaders that Ankara's efforts to reconcile with Yerevan
    would not undermine that country's interests. OSCE mediators who have
    been monitoring peacemaking efforts reported in early May that they
    saw signs of progress on the issue.

    Proposed peace outline

    "On the basis of what we heard from both presidents, we expect to
    be in a position to confirm some progress during the next weeks and
    months," Bernard Fassier of France said at the time. The statement
    the OSCE Minsk Group put out Friday from the G-8 summit said:
    "We are instructing our mediators to present to the presidents of
    Armenia and Azerbaijan an updated version" of a proposed peace outline
    brought forward in the Madrid Document of November 2007. "We urge the
    presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan to resolve the few differences
    remaining between them and finalize their agreement on these Basic
    Principles, which will outline a comprehensive settlement," Friday's
    statement said.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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