Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
Feb. 26, 2008
Azerbaijan and Armenia Coordinate Number of Issues on
Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict: International Crisis Group
26.02.08 10:45
Azerbaijan, Baku, 25 February / corr. Trend News K. Ramazanova/
Azerbaijan and Armenia coordinated issues of demilitarization,
deployment of international peacekeepers, and the return of occupied
lands and refugees to the occupied lands of Azerbaijan, Sabina
Freizer, the director of the European Program of the International
Crisis Group said to Trend News over the telephone from Brussels on
25 February.
`The parties cannot coordinate some key aspects concerning the width
of the corridor connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia and the
method of voting in Nagorno-Karabakh,’ Freizer said.
Representatives of the Crisis group say that a solution to the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can be spoken about after the presidential
elections are held in Azerbaijan in October 2008.
`It is possible that the parties will be able to hold negotiations to
settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict after a new president is elected
in Armenia and presidential elections are held in Azerbaijan,’
Freizer said.
According to Freizer, Armenia and Azerbaijan should take steps to
inform the population of the details of the negotiations and to
assure them about the importance of compromise,’ Freizer said. `Both
sides should lower the military rhetoric,’ Freizer said.
The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began in
1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since
1992, Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20% of Azerbaijan including
the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts. In
1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which
time active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group
( Russia, France, and the US) are currently holding peaceful
negotiations.