(RFE/RL)
PRAGUE, 18 January 2006 (RFE/RL) -- The foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia are expected to meet today in London for talks related to efforts to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between their countries, RFE/RL's Azerbaijan Service reported.
Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry told RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service that foreign ministers Elmar Mammadyarov of Azerbaijan and Vardan Oskanian of Armenia will discuss, among other issues, preparations for a possible February summit between the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The London talks are also expected to be attended by representatives of the OSCE Minsk Group -- co-chaired by France, Russia, and the United States -- which has been mediating efforts for a peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.
Predominantly ethnic Armenian Karabakh seceded from Soviet Azerbaijan in 1988, triggering a war that claimed some 30,000 lives and drove more than 800,000 people from their homes. A truce was signed in 1994, but Armenia and Azerbaijan remain formally at war.
(with material from apa, day.az)
In February 1988, the local assembly in Stepanakert, the local capital of the Azerbaijani region of NAGORNO-KARABAKH, passed a resolution calling for unification of the predominantly ethnic-Armenian region with Armenia. There were reports of violence against local Azeris, followed by attacks against Armenians in the Azerbaijani city of Sumgait. In 1991-92, Azerbaijani forces occupied most of Nagorno-Karabakh, but the Armenians counterattacked and by 1993-94 had seized almost all of the region, as well as vast areas around it. About 600,000 Azeris were displaced and as many as 25,000 people were killed before a Russian-brokered cease-fire was imposed in May 1994.
The London talks are also expected to be attended by representatives of the OSCE Minsk Group -- co-chaired by France, Russia, and the United States -- which has been mediating efforts for a peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.
Predominantly ethnic Armenian Karabakh seceded from Soviet Azerbaijan in 1988, triggering a war that claimed some 30,000 lives and drove more than 800,000 people from their homes. A truce was signed in 1994, but Armenia and Azerbaijan remain formally at war.
(with material from apa, day.az)
Nagorno-Karabakh
Nagorno-Karabakh
In February 1988, the local assembly in Stepanakert, the local capital of the Azerbaijani region of NAGORNO-KARABAKH, passed a resolution calling for unification of the predominantly ethnic-Armenian region with Armenia. There were reports of violence against local Azeris, followed by attacks against Armenians in the Azerbaijani city of Sumgait. In 1991-92, Azerbaijani forces occupied most of Nagorno-Karabakh, but the Armenians counterattacked and by 1993-94 had seized almost all of the region, as well as vast areas around it. About 600,000 Azeris were displaced and as many as 25,000 people were killed before a Russian-brokered cease-fire was imposed in May 1994.
For a complete archive of RFE/RL's coverage of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,click here.
Of particular interest:
2005 In Review: Conflicts In Caucasus Still Characterized By Gridlock