Armenia, Azeri presidents to meet over Karabakh

The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan Republic are expected to meet for talks over the Karabakh dispute after a recent sharp escalation of clashes on the territory left at least 14 people dead.

Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev and Armenia’s Serzh Sargsyan are expected to sit down for talks in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi this week to try to calm down tensions over the disputed territory following the recent bloody clash.

According to Azerbaijan Republic’s Defense Ministry, at least 14 of its soldiers had been killed in multiple confrontations between Azeri government forces and ethnic Armenians, which began on 30 July. There have been reportedly no casualties or injuries on the Armenian side.

Reports said that the clashes took place when Armenian groups tried to cross the contact line along the border, which prompted Azeri armed forces to respond to them.

Both Azerbaijan Republic and Armenia claim the territory of Karabakh, which is largely populated by Armenians but located in Azerbaijan.

Ethnic Armenian forces took control over the enclave which accounts for 16 percent of Azerbaijan Republic in the early 1990s during a six-year war with the country that took place from February 1988 to May 1994.

The conflict left an estimated 30,000 people dead and one million displaced before the two sides agreed to a cease-fire in 1994.

However, a peace accord has never been signed and the dispute still remains unsettled.