BRYZA LINKS ARMENIA-TURKEY RAPPROCHEMENT WITH KARABAKH CONFLICT

16:39 ~U 07.06.13

A former US Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Mathew Bryza, has considered
the Armenia-Turkey reconciliation efforts and the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict settlement interrelated processes.

Speaking at the conference, EU Azerbaijan: Security and Imtegration,
the diplomat, warned against any attempts to view the processes
separately, APA News Agency reported.

“The European Union and US made a big mistake, when in the period
of active rapprochement between Armenia and Turkey in 2009, they
separated this process from the process of resolution of Nagorno
Karabakh conflict,” he was quoted as saying.

Before serving as an ambassador in Baku, Baku was the US co-chair of
the OSCE Minsk Group.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict broke out in 1988 when the Armenian
majority of the then autonomous region declared its intention of
breaking away from Azerbaijan. In a referendum held on December
10, 1991 (days before the collapse of the USSR), the population
voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence (99.89%). The move
was followed by Azerbaijan’s large-scale military operations against
Nagorno-Karabakh and seven neighboring regions. The Ceasefire Agreement
which went into effect in May 1994 put an end to the armed attacks
in the conflict zone. Since 1992, the OSCE Minsk Group has been
spearheading the efforts towards reaching a negotiated settlement
between the conflicting countries.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress