Accessibility links

Breaking News

Azerbaijani Leader Warns Nagorno-Karabakh Truce 'Fragile'


Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev (left) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel attend a press conference following their meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin on June 7.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev (left) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel attend a press conference following their meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin on June 7.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said he wants a peaceful resolution to the conflict over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

"Recent developments in the region on the line of conflict show the cease-fire is not stable, it is fragile," Aliyev told a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on June 7. "The status quo is not acceptable."

In early April, a truce halted four days of fierce fighting in and around Nagorno-Karabakh between Armenia-backed separatists and Azerbaijan's military -- the worst fighting seen in the region since a fragile cease-fire deal was reached in the early 1990s.

The Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents renewed last month their commitment to a cease-fire and to a peaceful settlement of the conflict.

Baku and Yerevan have been locked in conflict over Azerbaijan's breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh for decades.

Armenian-backed separatists seized the mainly Armenian-populated region from Azerbaijan during a war in the early 1990s that killed some 30,000 people.

Diplomatic efforts to reach a permanent settlement have brought little progress.

Based on reporting by Reuters and Interfax

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.

To find out more, click here.

XS
SM
MD
LG