From: "Katia M. Peltekian" <kpeltekian@yahoo.com>
Subject: Armenia, Azerbaijan call for resolution of Karabakh dispute

Agence France Presse
Nov 2 2008

Armenia, Azerbaijan call for resolution of Karabakh dispute

BARVIKHA, Russia (AFP) – The leaders of bitter ex-Soviet foes
Armenia and Azerbaijan on Sunday called for a peaceful resolution of
their dispute over the Nagorny Karabakh region after peace talks near
Moscow.

A joint declaration signed by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and
Armenian counterpart Serzh Sarkisian said the two sides would
"continue their work… to agree on a political settlement to the
Nagorny Karabakh conflict."

The declaration ordered the country’s foreign ministers to "activate
further steps in the negotiating process."

Sunday’s talks were hosted by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev,
acting as Caucasus peacekeeper after Moscow’s war with Georgia in
August destabilized the volatile region.

An enclave of Azerbaijan with a largely ethnic Armenian population,
Nagorny Karabakh broke free of Baku’s control in the early 1990s in a
war that killed nearly 30,000 people and forced two million to flee
their homes.

A ceasefire was signed in 1994 but the dispute remains unresolved
after years of negotiations. Shootings between Armenian and
Azerbaijani forces in the region remain common.

Medvedev launched the latest push to end the conflict during a visit
to Armenia in October, just two months after sending tanks into nearby
Georgia after Tbilisi moved to retake its rebel region of South
Ossetia.

A resolution of the Karabakh dispute would be a boost to the whole
South Caucasus region — Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia — said the
declaration, read aloud by Medvedev at a signing ceremony at his
residence outside Moscow.

An agreement "would contribute to the improvement of the situation in
the South Caucasus to restore stability and safety to the
region… and create favourable conditions for economic development,"
it said.

In October, Sarkisian said he was ready for talks on the basis of
principles worked out at negotiations in Madrid last year that would
give Nagorny Karabakh the right to self-determination.

The Kremlin would act as guarantor of a new accord, an administration
official was quoted as saying ahead of Sunday’s talks.

Sunday’s declaration said "the achievement of a peaceful settlement
must be accompanied by legally binding international guarantees of all
aspects and stages."

In supporting the peace process, Moscow is bidding to boost its
influence in the region, analysts said.

Moscow is vying for influence with Washington in Azerbaijan, a key
energy exporter that ships oil and gas through Western-backed
pipelines through Georgia and Turkey, bypassing Russia.

The Kremlin could strengthen its position in the region by pushing
close ally Armenia toward compromise on the issue, Armenian political
analyst Stepan Grigorian said.