ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN PRESIDENTS MEET OVER CONFLICT

The Hindu
Jan 28 2009
India

DAVOS (AP): The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan sought solutions
on Wednesday to a two-decade conflict that has uprooted hundreds of
thousands of people from both countries.

Washington and Moscow appear newly energized to push for peace across
the energy-rich Caucasus after Georgia’s war with Russia in August
underlined the need to settle other regional conflicts through talks
instead of weaponry.

Presidents Serge Sarkisian of Armenia and Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan
agreed to intensify talks over the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh
when they last met three months ago.

Nagorno-Karabakh has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces
since 1994, when a truce ended six years of fighting that killed
about 30,000 people and displaced 1 million others.

Sporadic clashes have continued, including one Monday night that left
at least two Armenians dead in the first such violence in the past
few months.

More than a decade of international mediation efforts led by the
United States, Russia and France, under the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe, has failed to reach a lasting peace.

Sarkisian and Aliyev met in Zurich, Switzerland on Wednesday
one-on-one, their offices said. They were to share a table again
Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland , speaking
on a panel on Central Asia and the Caucasus region.

The two last met in early November in Moscow.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress