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ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN AGREE TO PRISONER SWAP
Monsters and Critics.com
Oct 27 2010
Moscow - The two feuding former Soviet republics of Armenia and
Azerbaijan agreed on Wednesday to a prisoner swap at negotiations
mediated by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
At a meeting in the Russian city of Astrakhan, Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev also
agreed to swap the bodies of dead soldiers.
Medvedev said he hoped to solve the territorial dispute between the
two countries by early December, according to Russian news agencies.
Under international law, the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh
belongs to Azerbaijan. But the region has been under Armenian control
since the mid-1990s, following a conflict that claimed 30,000 lives.
Clashes between the two countries have escalated recently, with
one soldier, who was affiliated with Nagorno-Karabakh, shot dead on
Tuesday by Azerbaijani units.
Last week the Azerbaijani parliament also voted to double its defence
spending to 2.5 billion dollars next year.
Baku has also repeatedly made it clear that it is ready to use force
to reconquer the region.
Russia has meanwhile vowed to defend Armenia against any attack from
its neighbour and has soldiers stationed in the country.
From: A. Papazian
Monsters and Critics.com
Oct 27 2010
Moscow - The two feuding former Soviet republics of Armenia and
Azerbaijan agreed on Wednesday to a prisoner swap at negotiations
mediated by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
At a meeting in the Russian city of Astrakhan, Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev also
agreed to swap the bodies of dead soldiers.
Medvedev said he hoped to solve the territorial dispute between the
two countries by early December, according to Russian news agencies.
Under international law, the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh
belongs to Azerbaijan. But the region has been under Armenian control
since the mid-1990s, following a conflict that claimed 30,000 lives.
Clashes between the two countries have escalated recently, with
one soldier, who was affiliated with Nagorno-Karabakh, shot dead on
Tuesday by Azerbaijani units.
Last week the Azerbaijani parliament also voted to double its defence
spending to 2.5 billion dollars next year.
Baku has also repeatedly made it clear that it is ready to use force
to reconquer the region.
Russia has meanwhile vowed to defend Armenia against any attack from
its neighbour and has soldiers stationed in the country.
From: A. Papazian