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FRANCE HOSTS TALKS BETWEEN ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN
Associated Press Online
October 27, 2014 Monday 9:32 PM GMT
by SYLVIE CORBET
PARIS
PARIS (AP) - The leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia restarted a
dialogue Monday during a three-way meeting in Paris with French
president Francois Hollande, in an effort to ease tensions in the
disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region of the southern Caucasus.
Armenian President Serge Sarkisian and Azerbaijan President Ilham
Aliyev agreed Monday to exchange information on the persons who
disappeared during the six-year separatist war that ended in 1994. The
process will be conducted under the auspices of the International
Committee of the Red Cross, according to a written statement released
by the French presidency.
They also agreed to continue the dialogue at new meeting in September
2015 on the sidelines of the General Assembly of the United Nations
in New York.
Nagorno-Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan but it and some surrounding
territory have been under the control of Armenian soldiers and local
Armenian forces since a 1994 cease-fire. Since then, there have been
sporadic clashes, but last summer tensions rose sharply as 19 soldiers
were killed in multiple confrontations.
Years of diplomatic efforts under the auspices of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe have made little visible progress
in resolving the dispute.
Earlier Monday, Hollande met separately with each leader.
During a one-to-one meeting with Aliyev, the French president evoked
the situation of the prominent human right activist Leila Yunus,
who is jailed in Azerbaijan. Yunus was arrested with her husband and
charged with spying for Armenia last July.
Aliyev "has made commitments" on that matter, said a top French
official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed
to speak publicly on the matter. He didn't give details because of
the sensitiveness of the issue.
From: A. Papazian
Associated Press Online
October 27, 2014 Monday 9:32 PM GMT
by SYLVIE CORBET
PARIS
PARIS (AP) - The leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia restarted a
dialogue Monday during a three-way meeting in Paris with French
president Francois Hollande, in an effort to ease tensions in the
disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region of the southern Caucasus.
Armenian President Serge Sarkisian and Azerbaijan President Ilham
Aliyev agreed Monday to exchange information on the persons who
disappeared during the six-year separatist war that ended in 1994. The
process will be conducted under the auspices of the International
Committee of the Red Cross, according to a written statement released
by the French presidency.
They also agreed to continue the dialogue at new meeting in September
2015 on the sidelines of the General Assembly of the United Nations
in New York.
Nagorno-Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan but it and some surrounding
territory have been under the control of Armenian soldiers and local
Armenian forces since a 1994 cease-fire. Since then, there have been
sporadic clashes, but last summer tensions rose sharply as 19 soldiers
were killed in multiple confrontations.
Years of diplomatic efforts under the auspices of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe have made little visible progress
in resolving the dispute.
Earlier Monday, Hollande met separately with each leader.
During a one-to-one meeting with Aliyev, the French president evoked
the situation of the prominent human right activist Leila Yunus,
who is jailed in Azerbaijan. Yunus was arrested with her husband and
charged with spying for Armenia last July.
Aliyev "has made commitments" on that matter, said a top French
official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed
to speak publicly on the matter. He didn't give details because of
the sensitiveness of the issue.
From: A. Papazian