Hürriyet, Turkey
Nov 15 2008

U.S. hopes Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to be resolved in 2009

The U.S. said the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and
Armenia can be solved in 2009 as all parties aware it should be
settled.

"I think they (the prospects) have improved as all parties are aware
that the conflict should be settled and that this conflict requires
attention," Matt Bryza, deputy assistant secretary of state for
European and Eurasian Affairs, told Today.Az in an interview.

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.

"Yeah, I even hope that it will happen next year," Bryza said when
asked about the prospects of the settlement of the long-standing
conflict.

Bryza, who is the co-chair of OSCE’s Minsk Group established to
mediate between the parties, would travel Yerevan to hold talks with
the Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.

He told Today.Az that the Sargsyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart
could meet again early 2009.