Bryza lifts veil of secrecy from coordinated principles on Karabakh

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia and Azerbaijan have made substantial progress toward a settlement on control of a disputed territory, Matthew Bryza, the chief U.S. mediator in the talks said. After more than a decade of efforts by international mediators to broker a deal on the territory of Nagorno Karabakh, the Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents are close to solving most remaining obstacles to an agreement on basic principles, according to him.



President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Armenian President Robert Kocharian are expected to focus on the sticking points during talks in St. Petersburg, Russia, on June 9. "If the St. Petersburg meeting is successful, then the number of differences remaining on basic principles could be reduced to close to zero," Bryza said.



Diplomats from the OSCE Minsk Group of mediators from Russia, France and the United States have in the past expressed optimism toward breakthroughs on the difficult dispute only to see negotiations turn backward.



Bryza would not identify the unresolved issues, but he outlined some of the basic principles already reached for a potential resolution. The two sides have agreed on the return of districts surrounding Nagorno Karabakh that are also under ethnic Armenian control. Bryza would not say whether there is an agreement on the return of refugees to the region or on any compensation for those who fled the territory.



Bryza praised the two sides for making progress on an issue that stirs passions within both countries. "The leadership of Armenia and Azerbaijan should be lauded for their courage in trying to bring stability and prosperity to their peoples," he said, The Associated Press reports.