AZERBAIJAN QUESTIONS US ROLE IN KARABAKH CONFLICT
Hurriyet
April 16 2010
Turkey
A top Azerbaijani official questioned Washington’s neutrality as a
mediator in the conflict over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region
and accused the U.S. of increasingly siding with Armenia.
"We are not happy with the activity of the United States in the
process of settling the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan,"
Ali Hasanov, the head of the political department of the Azerbaijani
presidential administration, told journalists in Baku.
"Unfortunately, some institutions and parties in the United States,
under the influence of the Armenian lobby, are losing their neutrality
and openly supporting Armenia," he said. "We think this is not in
accord with the mission of the United States, especially the American
mission as co-chair of the Minsk Group."
The United States is one of three co-chairs, along with France and
Russia, of the so-called Minsk Group, which is trying to negotiate
a resolution to the longstanding conflict.
Tensions over Karabakh have risen in recent months amid U.S.-backed
efforts by Armenia and Turkey, a close ally of Azerbaijan, to establish
diplomatic ties and reopen their border after decades of hostility.
Azerbaijan insists that the reconciliation process should not
move forward without progress on Karabakh and has accused Western
governments and Ankara of ignoring its interests. The energy-rich
country is a key Western partner in strategically important projects
to ship oil and gas from the Caspian Sea region to Europe through
Turkey, bypassing Russia.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in a show of solidarity
with Azerbaijan – with which it has strong ethnic, trade and energy
links – against Yerevan’s support for Karabakh.
The two former Soviet republics have cut direct economic and transport
links and failed to negotiate a settlement on the region’s status.
Armenian and Azerbaijani forces are spread across a cease-fire line in
and around Nagorno-Karabakh, often facing each other at close range,
and shootings are common.