Talks between Aliyev and his Armenian counterpart, Serzh Sarksyan, are being mediated by the Minsk Group of the Organization for the Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), co-chaired by France, the United States and Russia. Talks are closed to the public, and no statement has been released so far on the content of the negotiations. The two leaders are expected to meet again later this month in Russia. Aliyev said the talks focus on Armenian withdrawal from five Azeri regions it occupied during a war over Nagorno-Karabakh, which broke out in 1991. Withdrawal from two remaining regions -- Kelbajar and Lachin -- would take place five years after the initial pullout, "given those regions [']" geographic position, Aliyev was quoted as telling a Russian television station by the Turkish Milliyet daily on Wednesday.
Aliyev also dismissed media reports that the talks are aimed at opening a land corridor between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, saying there has never been such a link in history. He also underlined that Azerbaijan would never allow Nagorno-Karabakh to become independent, adding that Nagorno-Karabakh should revert back to its Soviet status of being an autonomous area. Armenia, on the other hand, favors a referendum on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is mostly populated by Armenians but entirely located in Azerbaijan, hoping the vote would lead to independence.
