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Al-Jazeera: Armenian-Azeri Leaders Hold Talks

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  • Al-Jazeera: Armenian-Azeri Leaders Hold Talks

    ARMENIAN-AZERI LEADERS HOLD TALKS

    Aljazeera.net
    November 23, 2009 Monday
    Qatar

    Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, has warned Serzh Sargsian,
    his Armenian counterpart, that he will pursue a military option
    against Armenia if a long-running border dispute is not resolved in
    Munich this week.

    The presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia met for talks at the
    headquarters of the French consulate general in Germany on Sunday.

    The meeting focused on resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh, a landlocked
    region in the south Caucasus where territorial ownership had instigated
    armed conflict with the participation of ethnic Armenians

    Turkey, a new edition to the official mediators of the talks, attended
    the meeting to press for progress before sealing a rapprochment
    with Armenia. Officials from the United States, France and Russia
    also joined.

    The talks in Germany mark the sixth encounter for the Armenian and
    Azeri president.

    Patience 'running thin'

    Prior to the meeting, Aliyev warned that his country andrsquo;s
    military was ready to take back the mountainous territory by force.

    In comments broadcast on Saturday, he also warned Azeri patience
    was running out, a statement analysts say reflects rising tension
    over the prospect of Turkey opening its border with Armenia, which
    oil-producing Azerbaijan vehemently opposes.

    "If that meeting ends without result, then our hopes in negotiations
    will be exhausted and then we are left with no other option. We have
    the full right to liberate our land by military means," Aliyev said.

    But a bid by Turkey and Armenia to bury a century of hostility stemming
    from the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks has thrust the
    Caucasus conflict back into the diplomatic spotlight.

    Natalia Leshchenko, an expert on the Caucasus region, told Al Jazeera:
    "This conflict has been frozen for almost two decades now so its
    unlikely it would erupt into war. Besides, the Azeri leader is aware
    of the fact that he would have to play against all the great powers
    of the world by trying to start a conflict."

    She said: "This is almost being done for the benefit of the domestic
    audience to say that he will go ahead with these talks."

    Turkey mediates

    Ankara and Yerevan have signed accords to establish diplomatic ties
    and open their border, which Turkey closed in 1993 in solidarity with
    Azerbaijan during the war.

    The deal carries huge significance for Turkey's diplomatic clout in
    the strategic Caucasus region, for its bid to join the European Union,
    and for landlocked Armenia's crippled economy.

    But Azerbaijan has reacted angrily, fearing it will lose leverage
    over Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

    US, Russian and French mediators say they are making progress in
    intensified talks, but Western diplomats say neither side appears
    ready to commit to painful concessions.

    'Making progress'

    The principles of a new deal would allow ethnic Armenian forces to
    give back most of seven Azeri districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh
    that they captured during the war.

    If the deal is approved the territory would then be granted greater
    international legitimacy before a popular vote in the future to decide
    its final status.

    Nagorno-Karabakh has been under control of Armenian troops and ethnic
    Armenian forces since a 1994 ceasefire deal that ended six years of
    war and killed at least 30,000 people.

    The territory of 100,000 people wants recognition as an independent
    state, but 15 years of mediation have failed to produce a peace deal.

    Instead, sporadic exchanges of fire continue to threaten war in a
    key oil and gas transit region to the West.
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