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AZERI LEADER SAYS TALKS WITH ARMENIA COLLAPSE
Reuters
09 Oct 2009 16:33:57 GMT
MOSCOW, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Hopes for a settlement of a two-decade
conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia ended in fiasco on Friday
when the Azeri leader accused his Armenian counterpart of being
unconstructive after two days of talks.
"As far as the key topics are concerned, both sides could not move
towards an agreement, and the main reason for this was because the
position of the Armenian side was unconstructive," Interfax quoted
Preident Ilham Aliyev as telling Azeri state television.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters in the
Moldovan capital, where the meeting took place, that the presidents
of the two Caucasus nations had moved closer to a resolution over
the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.
Representatives from the Azeri and Armenian governments could not be
immediately reached for comment.
Aliyev and Armenian president Serzh Sarksyan held constructive talks
on Thursday about the region, the U.S. embassy in Chisinau had said
after hosting the meeting.
A breakthrough in the conflict, in which Christian Armenians control
the area that is within Muslim Azerbaijan's recognised borders, would
smooth the way for the restoration of ties between Armenia and Turkey
after a century of hostility.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met Aliyev and Sarksyan during a
summit on Friday of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS),
a group of most former Soviet republics.
Lavrov had said after the meeting that advances were being made
"step by step".
Armenia and Turkey, an ally of Azerbaijan, are due to meet in Zurich
on Saturday to sign an accord that would pave the way for normal
relations that have been bitter since the mass killings of Armenians
by Ottoman forces during World War One.
U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton is due to attend the Zurich
signing ceremony.
Turkish officials say to move forward on this, Armenia and Azerbaijan
must make progress on the disputed region.
Ethnic Armenians in the region fought for several years against Azeris
at the end of the 1980s on the eve of the Soviet Union's collapse. Some
30,000 people were killed. Turkey shut its borders to Armenia in 1993
in solidarity with Azerbaijan.
(Reporting by Amie Ferris-Rotman and Dmitry Zhdannikov; editing by
David Stamp)
Reuters
09 Oct 2009 16:33:57 GMT
MOSCOW, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Hopes for a settlement of a two-decade
conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia ended in fiasco on Friday
when the Azeri leader accused his Armenian counterpart of being
unconstructive after two days of talks.
"As far as the key topics are concerned, both sides could not move
towards an agreement, and the main reason for this was because the
position of the Armenian side was unconstructive," Interfax quoted
Preident Ilham Aliyev as telling Azeri state television.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters in the
Moldovan capital, where the meeting took place, that the presidents
of the two Caucasus nations had moved closer to a resolution over
the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.
Representatives from the Azeri and Armenian governments could not be
immediately reached for comment.
Aliyev and Armenian president Serzh Sarksyan held constructive talks
on Thursday about the region, the U.S. embassy in Chisinau had said
after hosting the meeting.
A breakthrough in the conflict, in which Christian Armenians control
the area that is within Muslim Azerbaijan's recognised borders, would
smooth the way for the restoration of ties between Armenia and Turkey
after a century of hostility.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met Aliyev and Sarksyan during a
summit on Friday of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS),
a group of most former Soviet republics.
Lavrov had said after the meeting that advances were being made
"step by step".
Armenia and Turkey, an ally of Azerbaijan, are due to meet in Zurich
on Saturday to sign an accord that would pave the way for normal
relations that have been bitter since the mass killings of Armenians
by Ottoman forces during World War One.
U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton is due to attend the Zurich
signing ceremony.
Turkish officials say to move forward on this, Armenia and Azerbaijan
must make progress on the disputed region.
Ethnic Armenians in the region fought for several years against Azeris
at the end of the 1980s on the eve of the Soviet Union's collapse. Some
30,000 people were killed. Turkey shut its borders to Armenia in 1993
in solidarity with Azerbaijan.
(Reporting by Amie Ferris-Rotman and Dmitry Zhdannikov; editing by
David Stamp)