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

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.

Sports: Three Armenian athletes to participate at the 2017 World Taekwondo Championships

Panorama, Armenia

The 2017 World Taekwondo Championships will kick off in Muju, South Korea, from June 24-30 where Armenia will be represented by 3 athletes.
Armenian National Olympic Committee (ANOC) reports, some 2,500 athletes from 183 states are set to take part in the prestigious tournament, which is held every two years. The head coach of Armenia team Gevorg Danielyan has told ANOC press service, Armenia will be represented by Sergey Vardazaryan (87kg), Davit Vardumyan (74kg), and Arman Yeremyan (87kg).

“The taekwondo team are holding a training camp at the sport center of the national teams in Yerevan. I hope our team will show good performance at the world championships and will be able to struggle for medals,” Danielyan has said.

Appathurai: All members accept and support friendly relations between Alliance and Armenia

news.am, Armenia
Appathurai: All members accept and support friendly relations between Alliance and Armenia

18:24, 12.06.2017

YEREVAN. – Despite different positions all NATO member countries accept and support friendly relations between Armenia and the Alliance, special representative of the NATO Secretary General in the South Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai told reporters in Yerevan.

As to the remark that one of the NATO member countries – Turkey – periodically intervenes in the settlement of Karabakh conflict and shows support towards Azerbaijan, Appathurai said it is clear that NATO allies have different political relations with regional players.

However, it is important to remember that despite these different positions, they all accept and support the consistent, friendly and reliable relations between NATO and Armenia.

“I think Armenia also welcomes consistent relations with NATO member countries through the Alliance,” he added.

Chess: Armenia’s Aram Hakobyan defeats Sergei Lobanov

Panorama, Armenia

Round 6 of the World Youth Stars International Chess Tournament was held at Kirishi, Russia after the weekend. All the games of the round ended in victories.

As Panorama.am was informed from the Chess Federation of Armenia, in the central match of the round, two leading players Aram Hakobyan and Sergei Lobanov played against each other. The Armenian chess player outplayed his opponent in a tense competition. Another Armenian player Shant Sargsyan suffered a defeat.

After six rounds, Aram Hakobyan and Kirill Shevchenko have scored 4.5 points apiece and share 1-2 positions. Two chess players – Kirill Shubin and Kaasen Tor Fredrik – are closely trailing the leaders, sharing 3-4 places. Armenia’s Shant Sargsyan has scored 3.5 points and takes the 5th position.

The two Armenian players are set to compete with each other at Round 7 to be held today.