ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN TO DIRECTLY ENGAGE FOR SOLVING KARABAKH
Vinay Shukla

The Press Trust of India
November 2, 2008 Sunday

The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan today agreed to resolve the
Karabakh issue – ex-Soviet Union’s oldest territorial conflict through
direct negotiations after Russian President Medvedev’s intervention.

The two neighbours of the South Caucasus, Armenia and Azerbaijan
have fought over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave inside
Azerbaijan.

During the last years of the Soviet Union the enclave had declared
its independence from Baku and through use of armed militia captured
the so called Lachin corridor to link it with Armenia followed by
the ethnic cleansing of Azeris.

Also known as the Artsakh Republic, the region, which is inhabited
mainly by Armenians unilaterally declared independence from Azerbaijan
in 1991. An armed conflict broke out, which ended with an unofficial
ceasefire three years later, but the region is still in limbo.

After the talks at Russian president’s Meindorf Castle retreat near
here today Medvedev announced that the three leaders have in depth and
substance discussed the prospects of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict through political means and direct dialogue.

With the mediation of Russia, United States and France, who are the
co-chairs of the Minsk Group and they have signed a declaration to
this effect.

President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Armenian leader Serge Sargsyan
have declared that they will contribute to the improvement of situation
in the South Caucasus and ensure the restoration stability and security
in the region through political solution of the conflict.

They said that the issue will be resolved on the principles and norms
of the international law and decisions and documents adopted within
their framework. They also declare to create a conducive climate for
the economic development and all-round cooperation in the region.

The three presidents also agreed that the peaceful solution should
be propped by legally binding international guarantees at all stages.

In the wake of Tbilisi’s failure to retake its breakaway province
of South Ossetia last August with the help of brutal military force,
Baku has agreed to give peace a chance.

Through diplomatic efforts of Moscow and Ankara, which have a stake
in the region, the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia have agreed for
Russia’s mediation, after it asserted its dominant role in Caucasus
after five day war with the US and NATO- backed Georgia.