ID :
200019
Tue, 08/09/2011 - 10:30
Auther :

Azerbaijani President leaves for Russia (UPDATE)

Background added after the second paragraph (the first version was posted at 11:20)
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has today headed to Sochi, Russia, for a working visit.
At the Heydar Aliyev International Airport, the Head of State was seen off by Prime Minister Artur Rasizade and Baku Mayor Hajibala Abutalybov.
The Azerbaijani and Russian Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Dmitry Medvedev will discuss Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement and the legal status of the Caspian Sea at the talks in Sochi on Tuesday, RIA Novosti reported.
The press-service of the Russian President told journalists that President Aliyev will pay a working visit to Russia at the invitation of Russian counterpart.
"The extensive exchange of views on key aspects of Russian-Azerbaijani relations, as well as on the urgent issues of regional agenda, especially the negotiation process on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement is planned to be held during the meeting of the two leaders," a statement said.
The Kremlin recalled that the Russian and Azerbaijani Presidents regularly meet during the trilateral talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement with the Armenian President.
The last meeting was held in Kazan on June 24.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
Presidents Medvedev and Aliyev will also discuss the Caspian theme in Sochi in the context of the ongoing negotiations on the legal status of the Caspian Sea and in light of the decisions of the Third Summit of Heads of Caspian littoral states in Baku in November 2010," the Kremlin press-service said.
In November 2003, the Caspian countries signed the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea.
In July 1998 Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement on the delineation of the northern part of the Caspian Sea in order to exercise sovereign rights for subsoil use.
On Nov. 29, 2001, and Feb. 27, 2003, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan signed an agreement on the delineation of the Caspian Sea.
Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia signed an agreement on the delineation of adjacent sections of the Caspian Sea on May 14, 2003.

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