Armenian, Azeri presidents confirm intention to meet in November

YEREVAN, November 6. /ARKA/. Armenia’s and Azerbaijan’s presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliev confirmed their intention to meet in November, says the statement made by OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs after having visited the region.

The Co-Chairs Igor Popov (Russia), James Warlick (USA) and Jacques Faure (France), as well as Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk visited the region on November 4-5 to continue their efforts to help the sides find a peaceful resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. . The mediators met with Azeri president Ilham Aliev in Baku on November 4 and had a meeting with Armenia’s president Serzh Sargsyan in Yerevan on November 5.

“The presidents have confirmed their intention to meet in November 2013 to clarify their positions on a settlement and to discuss the way forward”, the statement says.

The mediators continue working on arrangements for the forthcoming summit.

“The Co-Chairs call upon the sides to exercise restraint on the ground as well as in their public statements.  Military action, particularly at this moment, can only be seen as an attempt to damage the peace process”, the statement says.

The Karabakh conflict started in 1988 when prevailingly Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh declared withdrawal from Azerbaijan. On December 10, 1991, a referendum was held in Nagorno-Karabakh where 99.89% voted for independence from Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan responded by large-scale military operations that led to loss of control not only over Nagorno-Karabakh itself, but also over seven adjoining areas. About 25-30 thousands people were killed and about a million had to leave their homes during the military operations.

A trilateral cease-fire agreement was signed on May 12, 2004, and has been followed since then.

The ongoing Karabakh peace process started in 1992 under auspices of OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the USA, Russia and France. –0--