Month: June 2017

BAKU: Bryza: War is in interests of neither Azerbaijan nor Armenia

Varazdat Torgomian
APA, Azerbaijan

Military operations could be launched in Nagorno-Karabakh only when the governments of Azerbaijan or Armenia makes the decision of war, Matthew Bryza, former US ambassador to Azerbaijan and former co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, said in Baku on Friday, APA reported. 

He noted that war is in the interests of neither Azerbaijan nor Armenia. 

“Some country outside the South Caucasus—I don’t mean the US— might carry out such a provocation. The presence of heavy military hardware at the contact line could lead to military clashes like the one that happened in April [of 2016]. However, that did not result in an all-out war. This is because war is in no one’s interests,” he added. 

BAKU: Azerbaijani FM: Armenia’s policy aimed at maintaining status-quo hinders progress in Karabakh talks

Albert Nalbandian
APA, Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov received a delegation led by EU Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn on June 16.

 

The sides held discussions on the next round of negotiations on a new Azerbaijan-EU partnership agreement, expressing confidence that the work on a draft agreement will be completed before the Eastern Partnership summit to be held late this year, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry told APA.

 

They announced that the next round of talks on the draft agreement will be held in July. 

 

Mammadyarov noted that conducting constructive and intensive negotiations on the draft agreement is a positive development.

 

The minister said that political and trade issues were mainly discussed at this stage of the talks.

 

He pointed out that Azerbaijan remains a reliable partner of the EU.

 

Briefing on the ongoing negotiations on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Mammadyarov stressed that this conflict is a major threat to the region.

 

He added that the presence of Armenian troops in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and Armenia’s policy aimed at maintaining the occupation-based status quo makes it impossible to make progress in resolving the conflict.

 

Mammadyarov also pointed out the importance of the European Union approaching the matter of protracted conflicts on the basis of territorial integrity and sovereignty of states within their international recognized borders, as stated in the EU Global Strategy for Foreign and Security Policy.

 

EU Commissar Johannes Hahn, in turn, offered his congratulations on 15 June – the National Salvation Day of Azerbaijan and noted the existence of pragmatic and practical cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan in the areas of transport, trade, connectivity, and energy.

 

The sides also exchanged their views on development prospects for EU-Azerbaijan relations and regional issues of common interest.  

 

BAKU: Karabakh conflict can be settled if US, Russia presidents contribute: Bryza

Talar Tumanian
Trend, Azerbaijan
14:41 (UTC+04:00)                           

Baku, Azerbaijan, June 16

By Elena Kosolapova – Trend:

The Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict hinders the economic development of the South Caucasus and security in the region, Matthew Bryza, former US ambassador to Azerbaijan and former co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, told reporters in Baku June 16.

Armenia keeps the Azerbaijani lands under occupation, said Bryza, adding it is necessary that Armenian troops withdraw from those lands and the parties reach an agreement.

The framework agreement [Madrid Principles] has existed for 10 years already, said Bryza, adding it is necessary to complete this process.

The former OSCE MG co-chair believes that this won’t be possible if the US and Russian leaders don’t contribute to this process.

According to Bryza, when he served as an OSCE MG co-chair, the co-chairs made progress, because the presidents of the US and Russia – George W. Bush and Dmitry Medvedev – paid more attention to the conflict and directly participated in its settlement.

At that time, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov creatively approached this issue, and he also encouraged the co-chairs to take a creative approach, noted Bryza.

He voiced concern that currently there is no specific policy in the US, not only about the South Caucasus, but also about the whole world.

President Donald Trump, during his election campaign, wanted very much the improvement of relations between the US and Russia, said the former ambassador, reminding that currently an investigation is underway into Russia’s intervention in the US electoral process. Until all these problems are resolved, the improvement of relations between the US and Russia will be impossible, according to Bryza.

The former envoy added that neither Azerbaijan, nor Armenia is interested in the resumption of hostilities on the line of contact.

He believes the deployment of heavy weapons to the line of contact, such as the OSA missile systems, can contribute to resumption of hostilities.

Bryza doesn’t expect progress in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s resolution until the presidents of Russia and the US make their personal contribution to its settlement. They should put this conflict to the agenda of the Russia-US relations, he said, but now the relations are not at a proper level.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

BAKU: Helsinki Commission: Karabakh conflict among world’s most intractable territorial conflicts

Suren Karakhanian
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
18:11 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission, published a brief report on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The report, released on June 15, reads that the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains one of the world’s most intractable and long-standing territorial conflicts.

The history of the conflict dates back to the beginning of the twentieth century. The active phase of the conflict, a full-scale war between the newly independent Armenia and Azerbaijan, began in 1991 and lasted until the Russia-brokered ceasefire in 1994.

The authors of the report said that in this period Armenian separatist declared independence, stressing that it is still unrecognized by international community.

“Armenia claimed important strategic gains as a result of the conflict, with Yerevan seizing full control of Nagorno-Karabakh and all or part of seven surrounding provinces that the international community continues to recognize as part of Azerbaijan,” the report said.

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has remained unresolved since 1994, with fighting being erupted periodically along the 160-mile line of contact. Since 1994, there have reportedly been over 7,000 ceasefire violations, according to the report.

April 2016 marked the most serious outbreak of violence over the past two decades. The so-called ‘Four Day War’ took the lives of at least 200 people, the authors of the report noted.

“The conflict saw Azerbaijan take control of two strategic heights in addition to other modest gains, representing the first change to the status quo since the 1994 ceasefire,” said the report.

The report stressed that the OSCE Minsk Group has long been trying to achieve the settlement of this long-term conflict.

The document sets out the Madrid Principles, which list the basic points, as well as the position of Russia and the United States towards this conflict.

The policy of the United States towards the region has in many ways been framed by the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, with the U.S. supporting the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan while recognizing that the future status of Nagorno-Karabakh should be settled through negotiations, the report said.

Since the 1990s, the U.S. Helsinki Commission has examined the prospect for the conflict’s resolution and the plight of IDPs in a number of hearings and briefings. The Commission constantly supports the activities of OSCE Minsk Group in this direction.

However, the authors suggest that the terms of most agreements remain largely unimplemented. Regardless, the authors of report are confident that the OSCE should continue to pursue “trust-building and risk reduction measures.”

The report underlined the importance of Turkey’s role in any settlement, given its close relations with Azerbaijan.

The U.S. Helsinki Commission is an independent agency of the U.S. Federal Government. For 40 years, the Commission has monitored compliance with the Helsinki Accords and advanced comprehensive security through promotion of human rights, democracy, and economic, environmental, and military cooperation in the 57-nation OSCE region.

The conflict between two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan's territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.