President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan said Saturday, "We have the full right to liberate our land by military means "iIf that meeting ends without result, then our hopes in negotiations will be exhausted and then we are left with no other option."

Azerbaijan and Armenia hold talks on Sunday on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, with Turkey pressing for progress before it seals an historic rapprochement with neighbouring Armenia.

Aliyev said he expects to hold talks next week with his Armenian counterpart, Serge Sarkisian, on resolving the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh. "If that meeting fails to produce result, our hopes for negotiations will vanish," Aliyev said during a meeting with Azerbaijani refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh.

Aliyev said Azerbaijan wants a peaceful settlement, but won't wait indefinitely. "We have the right to free our land using military force," he said.

There was no immediate comment from Armenia's government.

His latest statement could be aimed at encouraging Azerbaijanis, who are concerned that Turkey's move last month to normalize ties with Armenia could ruin hopes for regaining control over Nagorno-Karabakh. Turkey has assured its ally Azerbaijan that it would continue supporting it in the dispute.

Ankara and Yerevan have signed accords to establish diplomatic ties and open their border, which Turkey closed in 1993 in solidarity with Azerbaijan during the war.

But Ankara, stung by an Azeri backlash to the thaw and bogged down in protracted negotiations over Azeri gas supplies, says it wants to see progress on Nagorno-Karabakh before it ratifies the deal.

Talks between Armenia's Serzh Sarksyan and Azerbaijan's Ilham Aliyev are due to begin at midday (1100 GMT) at the residence of the French Consul General in Munich. It will be the sixth such encounter this year.

Turkey and Armenia had no diplomatic ties or economic relations since Turkey closed its border with Armenia after this country invaded the Upper-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan in 1992, until recently when the two countries agreed about a month ago on a protocol to establish relations after months-long Swiss mediated talks.


Agencies