Hürriyet, Turkey
Nov 2 2008

Armenia, Azerbaijan sign declaration in Russia mediated Karabakh talks

A joint declaration signed by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and
his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan on Sunday, in Moscow said the
two sides would "continue their work… to agree on a political
settlement in the negotiating process." (UPDATED)

The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan called for a "peaceful
resolution" to their dispute over the province of Nagorno-Karabakh on
the basis of "binding international guarantees," Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev said after talks near Moscow.

The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia began in 1988 on Armenian
territorial claims over Azerbaijan.

Since 1992, Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20 percent of
Azerbaijan including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven
surrounding districts, displacing 10 percent of the Azeri population
in the series of bloody clashes both between and within the two
neighboring countries.

In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which
time the active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk
Group are currently holding peaceful negotiations.

Nearly 30,000 were killed in the 1990s war over the enclave and
soldiers on both sides continue to exchange sporadic fire, claiming
lives.

MEDVEDEV MEDIATED TALKS

Medvedev, who in August oversaw Russia’s war with Georgia — which
borders both Armenia and Azerbaijan — launched a fresh push in
October to end the long-simmering conflict during a visit to Armenia
and was to broker the peace talks, the Kremlin said.

At the meeting Sargsyan said he was ready for talks with Azerbaijan on
the basis of principles worked out at negotiations in Madrid last year
under a plan that would give Nagorno-Karabakh the right to
self-determination, AFP reported.

The Kremlin would act as guarantor of a new accord, an administration
official was quoted as saying on Saturday.

Analysts say Moscow is keen to maintain influence in Armenia, its main
ally in the Caucasus, after the conflict between Russia and
U.S.-allied Georgia in August raised tensions throughout the region.

The August war, which began when Georgia attacked its own breakaway
enclave of South Ossetia, raised fears of similar violence in
Nagorno-Karabakh.

"Russia would be prepared to support a resolution to problem that
suits both sides and act as guarantor if a compromise deal is
reached," the unnamed Kremlin official said, state news agency RIA
Novosti reported.