Armenia/Azerbaijan: Ankara And Baku Want Trilateral Talks With Armenia On Nagorno-Karabakh
Baku, 9 January 2004 (RFE/RL) -- Turkey and Azerbaijan expressed a desire today to hold trilateral talks with Armenia on the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said during a visit to Azerbaijan today that his country and Azerbaijan wish a peaceful solution to the conflict.
"Regretfully, 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory has been occupied by Armenia. The Nagorno-Karabakh situation is unresolved. We want all these problems to be resolved in the framework of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity."
Armenian-backed forces in Nagorno-Karabakh drove Azerbaijani forces out of the enclave in 1994 after six years of fighting. A cease-fire was declared but no political solution to ownership of the territory has been reached. Ethnic Armenians also control other parts of Azerbaijan that adjoin Nagorno-Karabakh.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Vilayat Guliyev said his country welcomed Turkey's participation in talks with Armenia.
Gul said Armenia had expressed a willingness to participate in such talks in the past. But he said there had been no new contacts to organize such a meeting.
Copyright (c) 2004. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
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