ARMENIAN-AZERI LEADERS HOLD TALKS

CCTV, China Central TV
20091123/102063.shtml
Nov 23 2009

The presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia have met for talks on
the Nagor-no_Kara-bakh conflict. Azeri President Il-ham Ali-yev
and Armenia’s Serz-h Sarks-yan met on Sunday at the French Consul
General’s residence in Munich, Germany.

A French meditator said "important progress" has been made while some
difficulties have been identified during the four-hour talks. Tensions
over the breakaway mountainous region in Azerbaijan are rising.

Oil-producing Azerbaijan has been angry at a deal between Turkey and
Armenia to reopen their borders, 16 years after Ankara closed it in
solidarity with Azerbaijan during the Nago-rno-Kara_bakh war. Ali-yev,
warned on Saturday that Azerbaijan’s military is ready to take back
the mountainous territory by force.

Backed by Christian Armenia, ethnic Armenians in Nagor-no_Kara-bakh
threw off rule by Muslim Azerbaijan in 1991. The territory is still
seeking independence after 15 years of international mediation since
the 1994 cease-fire.