ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN CONFIRM MAY 7 MEETING – OSCE MINSK GROUP
RIA Novosti
April 27, 2009
YEREVAN
The Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders have confirmed the date for
their next meeting as May 7 in Prague, the French co-chair of the
OSCE Minsk Group said Monday.
Over the past few days, co-chairs of the Minsk Group have visited
Yerevan and Baku and met with the Armenian leader Serzh Sargsyan and
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.
"Both presidents agreed the date that we have offered on May 7 in
Prague," Bernard Fassier was cited by Azerbaijani media as saying at
a press conference.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk
Group was created in 1992 to encourage a peaceful resolution to the
conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorny Karabakh.
Nagorny Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan with a largely Armenian
population, declared its independence from Azerbaijan in 1983. The
ensuing Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict claimed some 35,000 lives. A
ceasefire was signed in 1994. The area technically remains part of
Azerbaijan, but has its own de facto government.
Fassier expressed hope that the meeting will be as constructive and
effective as when the two sides last met in January 2009 in Zurich.