ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN SEALED NAGORNO-KARABAKH DECLARATION

Kommersant

Nov 3 2008
Russia

Azeri President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serge Sargsyan
have sealed the Nagorno-Karabakh declaration. The parties agreed to
settle the conflict by political means and in conformity with the
international laws, Interfax news agency reported.

The Nagorno-Karabakh declaration of Armenia and Azerbaijan spells
out that the process of peaceful settlement should be accompanied
by legally binding international guarantees for its all aspects and
stages. The presidents committed foreign ministers of their states to
bring momentum to negotiations held in cooperation with co-chairpersons
of Minsk Group of OSCE.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and his Armenian counterpart Serge
Sargsyan met in the Moscow Region as a result of the intermediary
efforts of RF President Dmitry Medvedev.

Although mostly populated by the Armenians, Nagorno-Karabakh had been
a part of Azerbaijan’s Soviet Social Republic in time of the Soviet
Union. Nagorno-Karabakh Republic was declared in 1991, which led to
three-year war between the self-proclaimed territory and Armenia,
on the one hand, and Azerbaijan, on the other.

Nagorno-Karabakh has had the status quo for the recent 14 years. As
to Azerbaijan, it has been endeavoring to hit the self-proclaimed
republic by economic methods. Armenia helps the region without
recognizing its independence officially.

Baku is ready to grant wide autonomy to Nagorno-Karabakh, while
in Erevan, they insist on the self-determination right for the
territory. The peace plan of Minsk Group of OSCE that includes
representatives of Russia, the United States and France advocates
holding a referendum on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh and withdrawing
Armenian forces from cross-border regions.