Armenian, Azerbaijan Envoys Meet Over Nagorno-Karabakh

Oskanian (right) with Mammadyarov at a previous meeting (RFE/RL)

March 14, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian and his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov have concluded a round of talks in Geneva on the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported.

Oskanian told RFE/RL he was optimistic about an eventual breakthrough despite the fact that negotiations on March 13-14 had not progressed as far as he had hoped.

The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group of international mediators are pushing the two foreign ministers to prepare the ground for a meeting between Armenian President Robert Kocharian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in May.

"We are not giving up hope," Oskanian said. "The foundations for the talks are quite reliable and they contain the possibility to move forward."

Oskanian said he and Mammadyarov planned to meet again in April to try to prepare for the presidential meeting -- which would take place only after Armenia's May 12 parliamentary elections.

The predominantly ethnic Armenian region of Nagorno-Karabakh lies inside Azerbaijan's borders.

Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a war over the enclave from 1988 until a 1994 cease-fire.