Azernews.Az

BAKU – Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has said a turning point may emerge at the OSCE summit due December 1-2 in Astana in the peaceful settlement of the Upper (Nagorno) Karabakh conflict, a dispute with Armenia that has been unresolved for two decades.

Mammadyarov was quoted by Turkey’s Cihan news agency as saying that he plans to meet with Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian soon.

"During the latest trilateral meeting of the Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian presidents in Astrakhan the foreign ministers were instructed to continue the negotiating process, and such a meeting may take place in the near future," Mammadyarov told reporters in Istanbul.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev voiced hope after the Moscow-brokered talks in Astrakhan last Wednesday that the document on basic conflict settlement principles could be agreed by the OSCE summit. According to Medvedev, all three countries’ foreign ministers have been instructed to finalize work on the Madrid principles, which is a peace outline proposed by international mediators.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict for two decades. OSCE-brokered peace talks kicked off after a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a shaky cease-fire in 1994. Armenian armed forces continue to occupy over 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territory. Peace talks have been largely fruitless so far.