Agence France Presse
March 30 2005
OSCE chief hails Karabakh upcoming talks between Armenian, Azeri
leaders
AFP 31/03/2005 01:48
YEREVAN, March 30 (AFP) – The Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on Wednesday hailed upcoming talks
between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan over rising tensions in
the disputed enclave of
Nagorno-Karabakh.
“The presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia must use this window of
opportunity to solve the conflict,” said OSCE chairman Dimitrij Rupel
during a visit to the Armenian capital Yerevan.
Armenian President Robert Kocharian and his Azeri counterpart Ilham
Aliyev will discuss Nagorno-Karabakh in Warsaw on May 16, officials
said here earlier Wednesday.
They will meet on the sidelines of a Council of Europe meeting.
Long-simmering tensions over the disputed enclave in the volatile
Caucasus have flared recently, sparking fears that the escalation of
hostilities along a ceasefire line between Armenian and Azeri forces
could lead to a new war.
“It is essential to put an end to ceasefire violations, and there
must be a solution as soon as possible,” Rupel told reporters said
after talks with Kocharian.
Armenia has controlled Karabakh and seven surrounding regions which
make up 14 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized
territory since the two former Soviet republics ended large-scale
hostilities with a ceasefire in 1994.
But an escalation of ceasefire breaches and a mounting death toll
reported in recent weeks by the Azeri media have given observers
pause and caused concern in Washington, as efforts to resolve the
dispute diplomatically have disintegrated.
In the past month alone there have been reports of numerous exchanges
of fire between Azeri and Armenian forces resulting in the deaths of
at least four Azeris and the capture of another three.
During 2004, six Azeri soldiers were killed.