ARMENIAN AND AZERI PRESIDENTS AGREE ON BASIS FOR PEACE PLAN
Grace Annan

World Markets Research Centre
Global Insight
May 8, 2009

Talks on resolving the conflict between the Armenian and Azeri
governments regarding Nagorno-Karabakh received a fresh impetus
yesterday. The U.S. Embassy in Prague (Czech Republic) held a
high-level summit on the dispute; it was attended by Azeri President
Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan as well as senior
representatives from the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE), France, Russia and the host country. According
to Matthew Bryza, the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for
European and Eurasian Affairs, Aliyev and Sargsyan reduced their
divergence on basic principles for holding peace talks and accepted a
framework for doing so. The Armenian and Azeri ministers for foreign
affairs are going to turn the basic principles into a more detailed
text in the near future.

Significance:Given the stalemate between Armenia and Azerbaijan
as regards Nagorno-Karabakh, yesterday’s agreement is of great
significance. According to media reports, the meeting itself was rather
cool, reflecting the cautiousness of both presidents. Both presidents
know of the importance of a deal for the region; notably for their
neighbouring country Turkey, which has close ties with Azerbaijan
and blossoming ties with Armenia. Yet, disputes about the status of
Nagorno-Karabakh are so entrenched that no solution can be expected
in the near future. Rather, the next step for mediators may be to
induce more regular meetings between Armenian and Azeri officials to
avert a worsening of the conflict.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress