‘Good progress’ in Karabakh talks

Story from BBC NEWS:
europe/8372747.stm

Published: 2009/11/22 20:04:37 GMT

Azeri and Armenian leaders have made significant progress in talks on
the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, a French mediator has said.

But Bernard Fassier, of the Organisation for Co-operation and Security
in Europe, said "some difficulties" had been identified.

A fragile ceasefire has been in place in the region since a brutal war
there in the 1990s.

Both nations lay claim to the enclave, currently under Armenian control.

Earlier Azeri President Ilham Aliyev warned he could use force to
seize the enclave if the talks failed.

He said the talks, in Munich, Germany, were the final hope of settling
the issue peacefully.

Military threat

Mr Fassier said he and fellow mediators would prepare a new meeting,
but gave no indication of when it might take place.

"The discussion [led] the presidents and us to identify problems that
still have to be resolved," he said.

"But what is important, that we have been instructed to resolve these
problems."

US mediator Robert Bradtke said he was impressed by the political will
to seek a settlement.

"I think today what was impressive was the way the two presidents
worked with us, … their willingness to discuss points that are quite
difficult and quite controversial and I think, as someone who is
relatively new to this process, that is what impressed me the most,"
he said.

President Aliyev and his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sarkisyan left the
talks without making any comment.

But in remarks broadcast on Azeri TV on Saturday, Mr Aliyev said that
if the Munich talks failed to reach agreement he would be "left with
no other option".

"We have the full right to liberate our land by military means," he said.

Some 30,000 people died in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, which
erupted after the mountainous region declared independence in 1991.

The region and seven surrounding Azeri district have been under
Armenian control since the Russian-brokered ceasefire in 1994.

Azerbaijan has never ruled out military action to take back the land
and has spent billions on dollars on building up its military.

The meeting was the first since Armenia and Turkey – an ally of
Azerbaijan – normalised diplomatic relations after a century of
hostility.

That move has left Azerbaijan feeling isolated, says the BBC’s Tom
Esslemont, in the South Caucasus region.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress