GREAT POWERS HOPEFUL FOR RESOLUTION OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Nov 19 2013

19 November 2013, 14:01 (GMT+04:00)
By Sara Rajabova

Ahead of the meeting between the Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents,
world powers expressed hope for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict.

Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents, Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan,
will meet in Vienna on November 19 to discuss the settlement of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The U.S. and Turkey have discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh issue during
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s visit to Washington,
the U.S. State Department reported.

“We have been trying to work ways that our ambassadors, who are
front and center in this – in these initiatives, are continuing that
process,” U.S. State Secretary John Kerry said.

He said the U.S. is urging that process to move forward, and the
country will continue to be engaged in it.

Kerry said that he has had telephone conversations with the leaders of
Armenia and Azerbaijan on Nagorno-Karabakh a day before the Presidents’
meeting.

Davutoglu, in turn, said that Turkey and the U.S. have the same
opinions on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.

“We hope that the Nagorno-Karabakh problem will be solved soon and
stability will be restored in the Caucasus region,” Davutoglu said.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia
hopes for the resumption of contacts between the Armenian and
Azerbaijani authorities over the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, and is ready
to assist in resolving the problem.

He expressed hope that direct contacts between the Armenian and
Azerbaijani leaders will be resumed in the near future.

“As I said, we will do our best to help create the necessary atmosphere
to reach a resolution for the conflict upon the agreements reached
earlier,” Lavrov said.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made
territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the early
1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed
forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally
recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent
regions.

The UN Security Council’s four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal
have not been enforced to this day.

Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. through the OSCE
Minsk Group, are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed
by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles. The
negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress