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PARIS TALKS BRING TOGETHER LEADERS OVER DISPUTED KARABAKH REGION
NaharNet, Lebanon
Oct 28 2014
French President Francois Hollande held talks with the leaders of
Armenia and Azerbaijan Monday in a fresh push to end the festering
conflict over the disputed region of Nagorny Karabakh.
The summit in Paris enabled "the resumption of a direct dialogue"
between the presidents of the two countries, though no accord was
reached, the French presidency said in a statement after the talks
ended.
The Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders however agreed to an exchange
of information about people reported missing in the conflict,
under the aegis of the International Committee of the Red Cross,
the statement added.
The meeting followed a visit by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter
Steinmeier to both countries last week after a sharp escalation in
violence over the region in recent months amid European concerns
about the war raging in Ukraine.
The conflict goes back to the 1990s when Armenian separatists supported
by Yerevan seized the mountainous region, which is mainly inhabited
by ethnic Armenians, from Azerbaijan in a war that left some 30,000
people dead.
Despite years of negotiations since a 1994 ceasefire, the two
sides have not yet signed a final peace deal on Karabakh, still
internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan.
Oil-rich Baku, whose military spending exceeds Armenia's entire state
budget, has threatened to take back the region by force if negotiations
do not yield results.
Armenia -- heavily armed by Russia -- says it could crush any
offensive.
Hollande held a meeting first with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
and then with Armenia's Serzh Sarkisian, ahead of three-way talks
and a dinner that took place in "an excellent atmosphere," the French
leader's office said.
Although few expected a breakthrough in Paris after more than
two decades of bloodshed, a French diplomatic source said it was
"important to bring the two presidents together, to call on them to
work together, to get back to the table to reduce tensions".
The two leaders have said they will continue their dialogue, notably
on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly next year, the French
presidency said.
Hollande had urged them to overcome their differences and prepare
their people for a peace deal.
He hosted the talks in Paris with representatives of the Minsk group
of mediators in the conflict appointed by the OSCE in 1992, which
France co-chairs with Russia and the United States.
Last August saw a dramatic surge in violence across the countries'
border and along the Karabakh frontline as more than 20 troops died
in the deadliest clashes since the ceasefire.
Tensions between Azerbaijan and Moscow-allied Armenia have escalated
as Russia confronts the West over Ukraine, where government forces
are battling pro-Russian separatists.
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/152918-paris-talks-bring-together-leaders-over-disputed-karabakh-region
NaharNet, Lebanon
Oct 28 2014
French President Francois Hollande held talks with the leaders of
Armenia and Azerbaijan Monday in a fresh push to end the festering
conflict over the disputed region of Nagorny Karabakh.
The summit in Paris enabled "the resumption of a direct dialogue"
between the presidents of the two countries, though no accord was
reached, the French presidency said in a statement after the talks
ended.
The Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders however agreed to an exchange
of information about people reported missing in the conflict,
under the aegis of the International Committee of the Red Cross,
the statement added.
The meeting followed a visit by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter
Steinmeier to both countries last week after a sharp escalation in
violence over the region in recent months amid European concerns
about the war raging in Ukraine.
The conflict goes back to the 1990s when Armenian separatists supported
by Yerevan seized the mountainous region, which is mainly inhabited
by ethnic Armenians, from Azerbaijan in a war that left some 30,000
people dead.
Despite years of negotiations since a 1994 ceasefire, the two
sides have not yet signed a final peace deal on Karabakh, still
internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan.
Oil-rich Baku, whose military spending exceeds Armenia's entire state
budget, has threatened to take back the region by force if negotiations
do not yield results.
Armenia -- heavily armed by Russia -- says it could crush any
offensive.
Hollande held a meeting first with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
and then with Armenia's Serzh Sarkisian, ahead of three-way talks
and a dinner that took place in "an excellent atmosphere," the French
leader's office said.
Although few expected a breakthrough in Paris after more than
two decades of bloodshed, a French diplomatic source said it was
"important to bring the two presidents together, to call on them to
work together, to get back to the table to reduce tensions".
The two leaders have said they will continue their dialogue, notably
on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly next year, the French
presidency said.
Hollande had urged them to overcome their differences and prepare
their people for a peace deal.
He hosted the talks in Paris with representatives of the Minsk group
of mediators in the conflict appointed by the OSCE in 1992, which
France co-chairs with Russia and the United States.
Last August saw a dramatic surge in violence across the countries'
border and along the Karabakh frontline as more than 20 troops died
in the deadliest clashes since the ceasefire.
Tensions between Azerbaijan and Moscow-allied Armenia have escalated
as Russia confronts the West over Ukraine, where government forces
are battling pro-Russian separatists.
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/152918-paris-talks-bring-together-leaders-over-disputed-karabakh-region