Warlick sees Sargsyan-Aliev-Kerry meeting productive

YEREVAN, September 5. /ARKA/. The American co-chair of the OSCE Minsk
Group James Warlick is satisfied with the meeting of Armenian and
Azerbaijani presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliev and the US
Secretary of State John Kerry.

“In Wales John Kerry hosted productive talks between the presidents of
Azerbaijan and Armenia on Nagorno-Karabakh. We are ready to help,”
Warlick tweeted.

The parties had a trilateral meeting initiated by the American side,
in the framework of the NATO summit in Newport.

The discussion of the Karabakh conflict in a trilateral format has
become a common practice over the years. Such meetings are usually
initiated by the Russian president. The most recent meeting between
presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia was held in Sochi on
August 10 and reduced the tense on the Armenia-Azerbaijan contact
line.

Another tripartite meeting is planned for the near future, this time
with the president of France Francois Hollande as the third party.

The Karabakh conflict started in 1988 when prevailingly Armenian
population of Nagorno-Karabakh declared withdrawal from Azerbaijan. On
December 10, 1991, a referendum was held in Nagorno-Karabakh where
99.89% voted for independence from Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan responded by large-scale military operations that led to
loss of control not only over Nagorno-Karabakh itself, but also over
seven adjoining areas. About 25-30 thousand people were killed and
about a million had to leave their homes during the military
operations.

A trilateral cease-fire agreement was signed on May 12, 2004, and has
been followed since then.
The ongoing Karabakh peace process started in 1992 under auspices of
OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the USA, Russia and France. -0–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress