Armenian, Azerbaijan presidents to meet in Romania for first time
since failed France summit

AP Worldstream; May 26, 2006

The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan will meet in Romania,
possibly next month, government spokesmen said Friday, for talks aimed
at resolving a nearly two-decade conflict over the disupted enclave of
Nagorno-Karabakh.

Government officials in Yerevan and the Azerbaijani capital Baku both
confirmed that Robert Kocharian, of Armenia, and his Azerbaijani
counterpart, Ilham Aliev, were intending to meet, but gave no further
details.

The two Caucasus leaders are expected to attend a forum for Black Sea
countries scheduled for June 5 in the Romanian capital, Bucharest.

Talks held between the two presidents in France in February ended in
failure, despite international mediators’ efforts to push the leaders
to resolve Nagorno-Karabakh’s status.

The enclave is inside Azerbaijan but populated mostly by ethnic
Armenians, who have run it since an uneasy 1994 cease-fire ended six
years of full-scale fighting.

Sporadic border clashes have grown more frequent since the breakdown
of talks and the lack of resolution has hindered development
throughout the strategic Caucasus region.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress