AZERI, ARMENIAN PRESIDENTS TO MEET IN AUTUMN – US DIPLOMAT

Trend news agency
3 Aug 07

Baku, 3 August: The next meeting between the Azerbaijani and Armenian
presidents is likely to take place in November, Matthew Bryza, the
US Assistant Deputy State Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs
and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairman, said in Baku today.

After the meeting with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov,
Bryza said that the [OSCE Minsk Group] co-chairs were disappointed in
the outcome of the presidents’ meeting in St Petersburg. "However,
after visiting Azerbaijan and Yerevan, we saw that the process was
continuing," the US co-chairman added.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
following Armenia’s territorial claims to Azerbaijan. A total of 20
per cent of Azerbaijani territory, specifically Nagornyy Karabakh and
seven surrounding districts, are under the occupation of the Armenian
armed forces. In May 1994, the sides agreed on a cease-fire. The
OSCE Minsk Group, chaired by Russia, France and the USA, has been
brokering a solution to the conflict although the peace talks have
yielded no results yet.