BAKU, March 19 -- Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said on Sunday his country is "closer than ever" to a peace deal with Armenia, half a year after Azerbaijan recaptured its Karabakh region from its ethnic Armenian majority, prompting a mass exodus of ethnic Armenians.
"Today, we are in an active phase of peace talks with Armenia," Aliyev said in remarks after meeting NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Baku, according to a transcript published on the Azeri leader's website.
"We are now closer to peace than ever before."
Stoltenberg said he welcomed the move toward peace between the two nations.
"I appreciate what you say about that you are closer to a peace agreement than ever before," Stoltenberg said, according to a transcript pub...