BAKU, May 9 (RIA Novosti) - Azerbaijan on Saturday
blamed Armenia for the lack of significant progress towards a
settlement of the Nagorny Karabakh conflict during a recent
summit in the Czech Republic.
"I can not say that we have achieved any significant
progress. Complex issues were discussed at the meeting in
Prague. Unfortunately, the Armenian side once again did not
show a constructive approach," Azerbaijani Foreign Minister
Elmar Mammadyarov said.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan met in Prague on Thursday, along with the
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, which mediates a peaceful
resolution to the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over
Nagorny Karabakh.
Relations have been tense for more than two decades
between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorny Karabakh, a region
in Azerbaijan with a largely Armenian population. The region
declared its independence in a 1991 after a referendum
boycotted by local Azerbaijanis. The ensuing conflict claimed
some 35,000 lives before a ceasefire was signed in 1994. The
area technically remains part of Azerbaijan, but has its own de
facto government.
"Azerbaijan wants Armenian troops to withdraw from the
occupied territories as soon as possible," Mammadyarov said.
He also said that the next meeting between the Azeri and
Armenian leaders was planned to be held during an international
economic forum in St. Petersburg in June.
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