BAKU (Reuters)–Azerbaijan’s President Haydar Aliyev will hold two days of talks next week with the OSCE in Austria–with the long-running conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh expected to be high on the agenda.
The presidential press service said on Friday that Aliyev’s July 4-5 program included talks with Austrian Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner–who holds the rotating chairmanship of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe.
The OSCE has been mediating talks over the Nagorno-Karabakh.
The OSCE brokered a 1994 cease-fire and the region now rules itself as an independent state–though it is unrecognized internationally.
Three leaders of the OSCE’s so-called Minsk Group–which has been leading mediation efforts–are expected to bring new initiatives to fresh negotiations in Baku next week ahead of Aliyev’s Austrian visit. Talks have only recently resumed after a long period of impasse.
Aliyev will also meet with Austrian President Thomas Klestil.
