Azeri parliament calls for Karabakh concessions

The Azeri parliament has said both Azerbaijan and Armenia should make concessions in order to solve the dispute over the enclave of Nagorno Karabakh.

In a statement adopted after a debate on the issue, the parliament gave its backing to direct talks between the leaders of the two countries, and said international mediation should be intensified.

The Azeri President, Heydar Aliyev, is to meet his Armenian counterpart, Robert Kocharian, in Paris next week, although both have been critical of the latest proposals put forward by the mediators. The Azeri opposition has criticised the statement adopted by the parliament and said it would organise mass protests to coincide with the two presidents' meeting.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service