Armenian President Kocharian said he is optimistic about the talks (file photo) (ITAR-TASS)
24 January 2006 -- The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan will meet in Paris next month to seek ways to resolve a long-standing dispute over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenian officials said the meeting will take place on 10 February and comes at the invitation of French President Jacques Chirac.
A spokesman for Armenian President Robert Kocharian was quoted today as saying he was optimistic about the talks.
Armenia and Azerbaijan remain in a tense military standoff over the territory and have held years of fruitless multi-party negotiations aimed at resolving the dispute.
(AFP)
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