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Nagorno-Karabakh Talks Under Way In France

11 February 2006 -- The Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents have resumed talks near Paris aimed at ending an 18- year-old conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Robert Kocharian and Ilham Aliyev are meeting in the chateau of Rambouillet, where they have been joined by international mediators from the United States, Russia, and France, which comprise the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security And Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which has been mediating peace talks on Nagorno-Karabakh since 1994.

In the run-up to the talks, diplomats expressed guarded optimism that this time progress could be made toward a framework for settling the dispute, which has claimed at least 25,000 lives and driven more than a million people from their homes.

Armenian television reported that the atmosphere was tense going into the one-on-one talks between the presidents on 10 February. It said the two sides discussed the issue of the withdrawal of Armenian forces from Azerbaijani territory bordering Nagorno-Karabakh and their possible replacement by international forces.

The Armenian press also reported that one of the main sticking points was a proposal to hold a referendum at an indeterminate date on the final status of the disputed enclave.

(AFP, AP, ITAR-TASS)

Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org