Tweet
AZERBAIJAN, ARMENIA 'AGREE TO DISCUSS PEACE SETTLEMENT'
Agence France Presse
Nov 19 2013
(AFP)
Vienna - The presidents of arch-foes Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed
Tuesday to discuss a peace settlement over the disputed region of
Nagorny Karabakh, the European security body OSCE said.
"The presidents agreed to advance negotiations toward a peaceful
settlement... They agreed to meet again in the months ahead," the
OSCE said in a statement after the two leaders met in Vienna.
Armenia's Serzh Sarkisian and Azerbaijan's Ilham Aliyev met in the
Austrian capital Tuesday for the first time in two years, hosted by
the OSCE's so-called Minsk Group, which has been spearheading attempts
to negotiate a solution to the conflict.
The foreign ministers of the two countries will now work with the
heads of the Group -- the ambassadors of Russia, France and the United
States -- "to build on the work to date with the aim of intensifying
the peace process," the OSCE said.
Working sessions will be held on the sidelines of an OSCE conference
in Kiev on December 5-6. The Minsk co-chairs were also to visit the
region this year.
Armenia and Azerbaijan are locked in a festering decades-long feud
over the breakaway region of Nagorny Karabakh and frequently exchange
sniper fire across the volatile frontline.
Armenia-backed separatists seized Nagorny Karabakh from Azerbaijan
in a war that killed 30,000 people in the 1990s.
Despite years of negotiations since a 1994 ceasefire, the two sides
have still not signed a peace deal.
The last meeting between the two leaders took place in January 2012
in the Russian resort of Sochi.
Azerbaijan has threatened to take back the disputed region by force
if negotiations do not yield results, while Armenia has vowed to
retaliate against any military action.
Agence France Presse
Nov 19 2013
(AFP)
Vienna - The presidents of arch-foes Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed
Tuesday to discuss a peace settlement over the disputed region of
Nagorny Karabakh, the European security body OSCE said.
"The presidents agreed to advance negotiations toward a peaceful
settlement... They agreed to meet again in the months ahead," the
OSCE said in a statement after the two leaders met in Vienna.
Armenia's Serzh Sarkisian and Azerbaijan's Ilham Aliyev met in the
Austrian capital Tuesday for the first time in two years, hosted by
the OSCE's so-called Minsk Group, which has been spearheading attempts
to negotiate a solution to the conflict.
The foreign ministers of the two countries will now work with the
heads of the Group -- the ambassadors of Russia, France and the United
States -- "to build on the work to date with the aim of intensifying
the peace process," the OSCE said.
Working sessions will be held on the sidelines of an OSCE conference
in Kiev on December 5-6. The Minsk co-chairs were also to visit the
region this year.
Armenia and Azerbaijan are locked in a festering decades-long feud
over the breakaway region of Nagorny Karabakh and frequently exchange
sniper fire across the volatile frontline.
Armenia-backed separatists seized Nagorny Karabakh from Azerbaijan
in a war that killed 30,000 people in the 1990s.
Despite years of negotiations since a 1994 ceasefire, the two sides
have still not signed a peace deal.
The last meeting between the two leaders took place in January 2012
in the Russian resort of Sochi.
Azerbaijan has threatened to take back the disputed region by force
if negotiations do not yield results, while Armenia has vowed to
retaliate against any military action.