Epress.am News from Armenia
The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan promised to “expedite the process of reaching understanding” with regard to the Basic Principles of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Following a meeting between the conflicting parties facilitated by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in the Russian city of Sochi, the three leaders issued a joint statement, published in Armenian on the Armenian President’s official website.
The statement reads, in part:
“The presidents declared that as a result of intensive negotiations, there was progress in consenting to the Basic Principles of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.
“In view of the importance of beginning to draft a peace treaty, the presidents of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan expressed expressed readiness to expedite the process of reaching understanding with regard to the Basic Principles, taking into account all the work conducted so far.
[…]“Further to the provision of the Joint Declaration adopted on Mar. 5, 2011, in Sochi, the presidents of the Republic of Armenia, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Azerbaijan took note of the report on conducting investigations into incidents along the Line of Contact developed jointly by the Co-Chairs and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and agreed to continue this work.
[…]“The presidents reaffirmed that in the context of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, developing humanitarian contacts between the parties is part of confidence-building measures. In this regard, the presidents of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan expressed readiness to encourage the establishment of further dialogue between representatives of the intelligentsia, scientific and social circles.”
Updated 2:30 pm on Jan. 24, 2012, to reflect English translation by the Armenian President’s office (available here).