Armenia, Azerbaijan fail to reach agreement over disputed territory

Armenia, Azerbaijan fail to reach agreement over disputed territory

2011-06-25 03:36:11 GMT+7 (ICT)

KAZAN, RUSSIA (BNO NEWS) -- The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan on Friday failed to reach an agreement over the disputed territory of Nagorny Karabakh after a meeting in the Russian city of Kazan, RIA Novosti reported.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev hosted Armenian leader Serzh Sargsyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in the Volga city of Kazan for talks on a settlement to the two-decade conflict over Nagorny Karabakh.

"The heads of states confirmed mutual understanding on the range of issues that contribute to the creation of the conditions for approving the major principles [of the Karabakh settlement]," a joint statement said.

Nagorny Karabakh, a breakaway region on Azerbaijani territory with a predominantly ethnic Armenian population, has remained in Armenian control since the late 1980s, when the region claimed independence from Azerbaijan to join Armenia. The conflict is estimated to have left more than 30,000 people dead on both sides between 1988 and 1994.

On Thursday, United States President Barack Obama called both leaders in advance of the upcoming summit and encouraged them to agree on a peaceful settlement.

"President Obama told both leaders that now is the time to resolve this conflict and to offer the people of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Nagorno-Karabakh a better future for themselves and for their children," a statement from the White House said.

The OSCE Minsk Group, comprising Russia, France and the United States, has mediated the conflict for many years without much progress. The group presented a preliminary version of the Basic Principles for the Nagorny Karabakh settlement to Armenia and Azerbaijan in November 2007 in Madrid.

The proposal was updated in 2009 and it includes the return of the territories surrounding Nagorny Karabakh to Azerbaijani control. It also includes the right of all internally displaced persons and refugees to return to their former places of residence.

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