AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN PRESIDENTS LIKELY TO VIEW WAYS OF RESOLUTION OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICTS IN ST. PETERSBURG

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
April 27 2007

Azerbaijan, Baku/ Trend , corr. E. Huseynov/ Yuriy Merzlyakov, the
OSCE Minsk Group Russian Co-Chairman, has told Trend by the telephone
that the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Ilham Aliyev and Robert
Kocharian, are likely to a next round of negotiations on peaceful
resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue in St. Petersburg on June,
10, 2007.

The non-formal summit of CIS Member-States is expected to be held in
the Russian Northern capital of Saint-Petersburg on June 10, 2007.

According to Mr. Merzlyakov, the OSCE mediators have proposed the both
disputing parties to hold a meeting between the both Presidents just
this day, since it will be the first opportunity to hold a meeting
between the two leaders of the conflict countries after Armenia
holds its parliamentary elections in May, 2007. "It is very rarely
when so many leaders of different states can be gathered. This is
the first opportunity for it," said the diplomat by adding that the
Azerbaijani party has not officially confirmed its readiness to meet
in St. Petersburg on June 10. According to the Russian Co-Chairman,
the statement being made by the Armenian President today can be viewed
as the consent of the Armenian party to hold such a meeting.

At the same time, he added that another possibility for holding a
meeting between the Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders would be the
forthcoming summit of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, which was
appointed to the end of June, 2007.

Armenia has occupied 20% of the Azerbaijani lands including
Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven Districts of the country surrounding
it. Since 1992 to the present time, these territories have been
under the occupation of the Armenian Forces. In 1994, Azerbaijan
and Armenia signed a cease-fire agreement at which time the active
hostilities ended. Since then, the co-chairs of the OSCE have been
holding peaceful negotiations. The final meeting of the Presidents
of Azerbaijan and Armenia took place at the end of October in Minsk.