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ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN AGREE TO PRISONER SWAP AT RUSSIA SUMMIT
France 24
Oct 27 2010
AFP - Arch-rivals Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed at a summit in Russia
Wednesday to swap prisoners of war and exchange the bodies of soldiers
killed in their conflict over the breakaway Nagorny Karabakh region.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced the deal to "urgently
exchange prisoners of war and carry out the return of victims' bodies"
after a summit in the city of Astrakhan with Armenian President Serzh
Sarkisian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
There was, however, little sign of progress in resolving the two
countries' longstanding conflict over Karabakh, though Medvedev
expressed hope that an agreement on the basic principles of a peace
deal could be reached by early December.
Medvedev said the prisoner-exchange deal was aimed at "strengthening
trust" between the two sides.
"It is very important," he said in comments released by the Kremlin.
"The two sides have not been in direct, open confrontation for a long
time, but there are problems, there is shooting, people are dying."
Medvedev said he hoped the two countries could agree on the first
step in resolving the conflict -- a deal on the basic principles of
a resolution -- in time for a summit of the Organisation for Security
and Cooperation in Europe in Kazakhstan on December 1-2.
"We have come a certain way, which gives grounds to hope that if the
sides work well over the next month... we could reach an agreement
on the common principles of resolution," he said.
Azerbaijani defence ministry spokesman Eldar Sabiroglu told AFP that
two Azerbaijani soldiers and the bodies of two soldiers were currently
being held in Armenia.
Armen Kaprielian, a representative of Armenia's state committee on
prisoners of war, told AFP that six Armenian soldiers and one civilian
captured in the last two years were being held in Azerbaijan.
He also said that Armenia was holding three Azerbaijani prisoners
and that Armenia was not holding any bodies of Azerbaijani soldiers.
It was unclear how many soldiers from Karabakh's rebel forces
Azerbaijan might also be holding.
A Kremlin spokesman declined immediate comment.
International mediators have been struggling for years to push for
a resolution to the conflict over Karabakh, where ethnic Armenian
separatists backed by Yerevan broke from Azerbaijani control during
a war in the early 1990s that left 30,000 dead.
Armenia on Tuesday had accused Azerbaijani forces of killing an ethnic
Armenian soldier in a bid to disrupt the summit talks.
Armenia's defence ministry said in a statement that a 20-year-old
soldier with Karabakh's defence forces had been killed after
Azerbaijani forces opened fire along a ceasefire line. It accused
Baku of "destabilising the situation" before the summit.
Tensions over Karabakh have been increasing this year amid the stalled
peace talks, with the number of deadly skirmishes along the ceasefire
line on the rise for months.
At least 20 soldiers on both sides have been reported killed in
clashes this year, including eight soldiers killed last month alone.
From: A. Papazian
France 24
Oct 27 2010
AFP - Arch-rivals Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed at a summit in Russia
Wednesday to swap prisoners of war and exchange the bodies of soldiers
killed in their conflict over the breakaway Nagorny Karabakh region.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced the deal to "urgently
exchange prisoners of war and carry out the return of victims' bodies"
after a summit in the city of Astrakhan with Armenian President Serzh
Sarkisian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
There was, however, little sign of progress in resolving the two
countries' longstanding conflict over Karabakh, though Medvedev
expressed hope that an agreement on the basic principles of a peace
deal could be reached by early December.
Medvedev said the prisoner-exchange deal was aimed at "strengthening
trust" between the two sides.
"It is very important," he said in comments released by the Kremlin.
"The two sides have not been in direct, open confrontation for a long
time, but there are problems, there is shooting, people are dying."
Medvedev said he hoped the two countries could agree on the first
step in resolving the conflict -- a deal on the basic principles of
a resolution -- in time for a summit of the Organisation for Security
and Cooperation in Europe in Kazakhstan on December 1-2.
"We have come a certain way, which gives grounds to hope that if the
sides work well over the next month... we could reach an agreement
on the common principles of resolution," he said.
Azerbaijani defence ministry spokesman Eldar Sabiroglu told AFP that
two Azerbaijani soldiers and the bodies of two soldiers were currently
being held in Armenia.
Armen Kaprielian, a representative of Armenia's state committee on
prisoners of war, told AFP that six Armenian soldiers and one civilian
captured in the last two years were being held in Azerbaijan.
He also said that Armenia was holding three Azerbaijani prisoners
and that Armenia was not holding any bodies of Azerbaijani soldiers.
It was unclear how many soldiers from Karabakh's rebel forces
Azerbaijan might also be holding.
A Kremlin spokesman declined immediate comment.
International mediators have been struggling for years to push for
a resolution to the conflict over Karabakh, where ethnic Armenian
separatists backed by Yerevan broke from Azerbaijani control during
a war in the early 1990s that left 30,000 dead.
Armenia on Tuesday had accused Azerbaijani forces of killing an ethnic
Armenian soldier in a bid to disrupt the summit talks.
Armenia's defence ministry said in a statement that a 20-year-old
soldier with Karabakh's defence forces had been killed after
Azerbaijani forces opened fire along a ceasefire line. It accused
Baku of "destabilising the situation" before the summit.
Tensions over Karabakh have been increasing this year amid the stalled
peace talks, with the number of deadly skirmishes along the ceasefire
line on the rise for months.
At least 20 soldiers on both sides have been reported killed in
clashes this year, including eight soldiers killed last month alone.
From: A. Papazian