THE FINANCIAL TIMES: THAW IN ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN RELATIONS

PanARMENIAN.Net
04.11.2008 15:10 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A thaw emerged in relations with Armenia after
the presidents of the two countries pledged to find a political
settlement to their 15-year conflict over the breakaway enclave of
Nagorno Karabakh, The Financial Times reports.

"Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, and his Armenian
counterpart, Serzh Sargsyan held talks about Nagorno Karabakh at
a meeting outside Moscow this weekend hosted by Dmitry Medvedev,
the Russian President.

The three men signed a declaration agreeing to intensify diplomatic
efforts to resolve the dispute over Nagorno Karabakh and to develop
confidence building measures in the region.

Western diplomats said the war in August between Russia and Georgia
appeared to have given impetus to diplomatic efforts to resolve the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

Azerbaijan has grown prosperous amid an oil boom, and has stepped up
defense spending recently. However, the country has abandoned threats
to retake Nagorno Karabakh by force since the war in Georgia.

Armenia is willing to consider returning to Azerbaijan some territories
surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh captured during the war, but insists
that the autonomy of Nagorno Karabakh itself is not negotiable,"
the article says.