PressTV, Iran
Nov 22 2009

Azeri, Armenian leaders discuss Nagorno-Karabakh

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 21:20:28 GMT

A Soviet-made tank is seen near the town of Agdam, which is controlled
by the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Azerbaijani and Armenian heads of state have met to attempt to
resolve the longstanding territorial dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh.

On Sunday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held talks with his
Armenian counterpart Serzh Sarkisian with hopes of reestablishing
Baku’s authority over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which Azerbaijan
lost to Armenia in the 1990s, the AzerTAj state news agency reported.

The meeting took place at the residence of the Consul General of
France in Munich and was also joined by the co-chairmen of the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Robert
Bradtke (US), Bernard Fassier (France), and Yuri Merzlyakov (Russia).

Azerbaijan lost control of the region in a rebellion by local
Armenians, who were supported by the military of the Republic of
Armenia. The conflict killed tens of thousands of people and displaced
over a million others.

However, the international community has refused to recognize the de
facto rule of the ensuing Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

"That meeting must play a decisive role in the process of
negotiations," the Azerbaijani president said on Friday, adding that
should the session end short of a deal, "then our hopes in
negotiations will be exhausted and then we are left with no other
option" than to reclaim the territory by force.

"We are doing that because we never excluded and we do not exclude
that option. We have the full right to liberate our land by military
means," he insisted.

HN/SS/HGL