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Azerbaijan reiterates military threats over Karabakh

RIA Novosti

26/11/200913:28

BAKU, November 26 (RIA Novosti) - Azerbaijan's defense minister reiterated threats of the possible use of force in resolving the dispute over Nagorgny Karabakh with Armenia.

Meeting with the Polish defense minister on Wednesday, Safar Abiyev said the OSCE-mediated talks with Armenia have yielded no results, the Caucasus state's Defense Ministry reported on Thursday.

"Under the circumstances using force to free its territory occupied by Armenia could become inevitable for Azerbaijan," Abiyev was quoted as saying by the ministry.

The statement came as mediators reported progress at talks between Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan in Munich on Sunday.

French mediator Bernard Fassier said "some important progress" had been reached, but outlined certain "difficulties."

Aliyev had also issued warnings over Karabakh, the region in Azerbaijan with a largely Armenian population, saying Baku did not rule out the use of force to resolve the dispute if no progress was made in Munich.

Nagorny Karabakh has been a source of conflict between the former Soviet republics since the late 1980s. The mountainous province has its own government and is de facto independent.

It was the first meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders after Armenia and Turkey, Azerbaijan's Muslim ally, signed accords in October to restore diplomatic ties and reopen borders.

Nagorny Karabakh's legislature promised "to respond adequately" to the threats in a statement on Thursday, accusing Azerbaijan of trying to break the current balance in the South Caucasus.

"The country has been taking its time, trying to upset the military and political balance in the region in its favor by launching a new war against Nagorny Karabakh," the statement said.

The war between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the enclave in 1988-1994 left an estimated 35,000 people dead. Sporadic violence on the border has been reported ever since.

The legislature, however, said Baku has been overestimating border violence, which it said further proves that Azerbaijan seeks to thwart the negotiations.

The conflict is mediated by the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), comprising the U.S., Russia and France.