AZERBAIJAN: PRESIDENT ALIYEV SAYS NAGORNO-KARABAKH TALKS ENTER FINAL STAGE
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10/05/09
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev claims that negotiations with
Armenia over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh territory are approaching
a conclusion.
"Talks on resolving [the] Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict on
Nagorno-Karabakh have been in progress for many years, but so far we
have achieved no results," Aliyev was quoted as saying by the Azertag
state news agency at an October 2-3 conference of Turkic countries
in Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan City.
"Positive trends are taking shape in the negotiations," Aliyev
continued. "I may say that the process is in its final stage."
International negotiators from France, Russia and the United States are
also sounding an optimistic note, saying that Armenia and Azerbaijan
reached an agreement on many unnamed issues related to the conflict,
the Kavkazsky Uzel news service reported on October 4.
Neither Aliyev nor international mediators have offered any specifics
that could substantiate their optimism. The two sides still diverge
on the key issue of Nagorno-Karabakh’s status.
Addressing Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kyrgyz
President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and Turkish President Abdullah Gul,
Aliyev said that the "self-determination of peoples can be realized
within the limits of [a state’s] territorial integrity. Any options
outside these limits cannot be discussed."