October 4, 2009 - 20:32 AMT
Aliyev: Talks over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region are in a final phase
Talks between Azerbaijan and its neighbor Armenia over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region are in a final phase, Azeri President Ilham Aliyev has said.

Christian ethnic Armenians, backed by Armenia, fought a war in the 1990s to end mainly Muslim Azerbaijan's control over mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh.

There was little sign of any peace deal until this year, when Azerbaijan's close ally Turkey began to thaw its own ties with Armenia.

"Positive dynamics are observed in the negotiation process, and I can say that the negotiation process is already in its final phase," Aliyev said on October 3 at a summit of Turkic-speaking nations in Azerbaijan's autonomous region of Nakhchivan, Reuters reported.