In Baku, US co-chairman of the Minsk Group, Matthew Bryza, touching on the status of Nagorno Karabakh, said that the co-chairs have proposed to determine the status by a vote. "We proposed that the status of Nagorno Karabakh be defined by voting. The sides should define where voting should be conducted. OSCE Minsk Group can not define how to call this vote. The presidents are responsible for that," he said. Armenia and Azerbaijan have made substantial progress toward a settlement on control of a disputed territory, the chief U.S. mediator in the talks said. "The leadership of Armenia and Azerbaijan should be lauded for their courage in trying to bring stability and prosperity to their peoples," he said. Bryza would not identify the unresolved issues, but he outlined some of the basic principles already reached for a potential resolution. The two sides have agreed on the return of districts surrounding Nagorno Karabakh that are also under ethnic Armenian control. Negotiators have agreed that a settlement would stipulate that a vote would be held in the future on the territory’s status, but they have not yet agreed on the timing of the poll or the details of who would be entitled to vote.
