[Armenian News note: the below is translated from the Russian edition of Turan]

Azeris from Azerbaijan's breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh have said that they are ready for "constructive dialogue" with Armenians toward the resolution of the territorial conflict between Baku and Yerevan.

It was citing a statement that it said the NGO called the Azeri community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region released upon completion of its congress in Baku on 20 December. The statement said that the Azeri and Armenian communities of Nagorno-Karabakh were "capable of living together in the region within the framework of the generally acknowledged borders, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan."

The statement said that the 80,000-strong Azeri community of the region was displaced from their homes for 30 years as a result of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the latter's Armenian-populated breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The statement said that the world community and international organisations recognised Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and that OSCE documents said that Azerbaijan and Armenia were parties to the conflict and the Azeri and Armenian communities of Karabakh were interested parties. Living in the region together, the two communities can achieve fair peace, durable regional stability and security, the statement said. It added that dialogue between the two communities should be encouraged as an important step to this end, and that the Azeri one was ready for constructive dialogue.