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  • BAKU: Successful End Of St. Petersburg Meeting Could Minimize Differ

    SUCCESSFUL END OF ST. PETERSBURG MEETING COULD MINIMIZE DIFFERENCES ON BASIC PRINCIPLES: US DIPLOMAT

    TREND News Agency, Azerbaijan
    June 1 2007

    Azerbaijan, Baku / corr Trend A.Gasimova / Matthew Bryza, the
    U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, and also OSCE Minsk Group
    co-chair informed the Associated Press that "If the St. Petersburg
    meeting is successful, then the number of differences remaining on
    basic principles could be reduced to close to zero."

    President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Armenian President Robert
    Kocharian are expected to focus on the most pressing points during
    talks in St. Petersburg, Russia, on 9 June.

    The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, observing the Armenian-Azerbaijani
    talks on the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, US Ambassador
    Yuriy Merzlyakov and French Ambassador Bernard Fassier do not hide
    their optimism in connection with forthcoming talks between the
    Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents in St. Petersburg on 9 June.

    The meeting will be held during the informal summit of the CIS head
    of state.

    After more than a decade of efforts by international mediators to
    break a deal on the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Azerbaijani
    and Armenian presidents are close to resolving the remaining obstacles
    to an agreement on basic principles, according to Bryza.

    Armenia and Azerbaijan have made substantial progress toward the
    settlement on control of a disputed territory, the U.S chief.

    mediator in the talks stated. The leadership of Armenia and Azerbaijan
    should be praised for their courage in trying to bring stability and
    prosperity to their peoples," he said.

    The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 due
    to the territorial claims by Armenia against Azerbaijan. Armenia has
    occupied 20% of the Azerbaijani land including the Nagorno-Karabakh
    region and seven Districts of the country surrounding it. Since
    1992 to the present time, these territories have been under the
    occupation of the Armenian Forces. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia
    signed a ceasefire agreement at which time the active hostilities
    ended. The Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group ( Russia, France and USA)
    are presently holding peaceful negotiations.
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