Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
May 23 2009
Meeting between Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia to give new
opportunity for sides to bring positions closer: EU
23.05.09 16:37
Azerbaijan, Baku, May 23 /Trend News, J.Babayeva /
The EU Special Representative for South Caucasus Peter Semneby shares
the hope of the mediators that the forthcoming Saint Petersburg
meeting between the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia will be a new
opportunity for the sides to bring their positions closer, said the
report on Semneby’s visit to Azerbaijan on May 19-20, which was
provided by Office of the EU Special Representative in Azerbaijan.
"The European Union supports the work now being conducted by the three
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk group," the report says.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding
districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in
1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the
U.S. – are currently holding the peace negotiations.
The Presidents of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev and Armenia, Serj Sarkisian
plan to meet in June in St. Petersburg within the participation in the
economic forum.
The EU Special Representative also discussed the Turkish-Armenian
normalization process and its implications for Azerbaijan. "He
outlined the EU’s vision of the South Caucasus, where the opening of
all borders would enhance regional security and permit the region to
develop its full economic potential," the report says.
Armenian-Turkish ties have been severed since 1993 due to Armenia’s
claims of an alleged genocide, and the country’s occupation of 20
percent of Azerbaijani lands.
However, during his visit to Baku on 12-13 May, Turkish Prime Minister
Rejep Tayyip Erdogan excluded the possibility of cooperation with
Armenia unless the occupied territories of Azerbaijan are released.