I Believe You Will: Mammadyarov and Davutoglu Discussed Karabakh Conflict

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov hopes that his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu will take very useful initiatives in the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, reports Azerbaijani news agency Trend.

“Turkey is highly respected in the international arena, and therefore I believe that Ahmet Davutoglu will take very useful initiatives in the Karabakh settlement”, Mammadyarov said at a joint press conference following a summit of Turkic-speaking countries.

The summit was held in Bodrum town in western Turkish province of Mugla on Thursday bringing together foreign ministers of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Hans- Jochen Schmidt: Nagorno Karabakh Conflict Resolution Must Be Based On Madrid Principles

“It is not politically rational to expand Minsk group mission with other tools,” answering to “Radiolur’s” question which steps can be undertaken by the European Union for Nagorno Karabakh conflict resolution the Ambassador of Germany to Armenia Hans- Jochen Schmidt told a press conference today.

He mentioned that European Union member countries must promote to weaken the conflict tensions with the help of the organizations operating in the region. In this context, the Ambassador mentioned simultaneous start of the Associative contract with the three countries of the region.

According to Hans- Jochen Schmidt, we must wait for recognizing the verdict on Kosovo by the Hague Court as precedent for Nagorno Karabakh conflict. He went on noting that the conflict resolution must be found based on Madrid Principles which suppose territorial integrity, self- determination of people, and non- use of force  Read more... (241 words)

Karabakh Can Not Appeal To The International Court in Hague

The verdict reached by the UN International Court of Justice cannot be viewed as a precedent and used to solve other frozen conflicts because it only refers to Kosovo,” European Program Director of the International Crisis Group Sabina Fraiser told “Radio Liberty”.

What will be the consequences if Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia, Abkhazia or Transdniester appeal to the same court to study their cases? In response, Sabina Fraizer said that an unrecognized state may not appeal to the International Court of Justice.  Read more... (171 words)

Would Azerbaijan Give Up Oil in Exchange For Karabakh?

Despite the statements quite frequently voiced by the Azeri authorities on the possibility of resuming hostilities against Armenia, it is yet extremely premature to speak about prospects of a new war. There are no objective prerequisites in current circumstances that would indicate launch of war in the near future.

Azerbaijan is building its statehood on oil, and oil tariffs nowadays reflect quite positively on main economic indicators. In that view it is highly unlikely that Azerbaijan would go for a cardinal change of situation, especially with most indefinite outcome prospects.

What tangible loss would Azerbaijan suffer in case of resuming the war over Karabakh?

First of all it is Azerbaijan’s appeal for investors in the oil sector, in other words – the only stable base for state construction.  Read more... (723 words)

Nagorno Karabakh Twenty-One Years Later: What Happened to “Self-Determination”?

Twenty-one years ago this week the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US Senate passed a Resolution on “US assistance to the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh issue in accordance with the people’s will of Soviet Armenia”.

The document was calling on Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev to “discuss the demand for reunification with Armenia with representatives of Nagorno Karabakh as well as representatives of the democratic movement (including members of Karabakh Committee recently released from confinement)”.

Hence, 21 years ago the US Congress’s Upper Chamber Commission allowed for a possibility of reunification of two Armenian entities.

The resolution also appealed to American diplomats to achieve “investigation by the highest instances of cases of violence against Armenians” in the bilateral negotiations with the Soviet administration.  Read more... (633 words)

Mediators Report No Progress in Karabakh Talks After Almaty Meeting

The July 16-17 meetings between Armenia’s Edward Nalbandyan and Azerbaijan’s Elmar Mammadyarov, held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on the margins of an OSCE ministerial meeting, had been urged by the presidents of the United States, Russia and France, who made a reference to that effect in their joint statement issued from the G8 summit late last month.

Barack Obama, Dimitry Medvedev and Nicolas Sarkozy also said the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan “need to take the next step and complete the work on the Basic Principles to enable the drafting of a peace agreement to begin.”

According to media reports, Nalbandyan and Mammadyarov began their talks in the Kazakh city late on Friday and met again the next day in the presence of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg.  Read more... (472 words)

Azerbaijan Denies New Karabakh Peace Proposals

Azerbaijan has denied Armenian claims that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev presented his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts with a new international plan to end the Nagorno-Karabakh at their meeting in Saint Petersburg last month.

President Serzh Sarkisian likewise spoke of “the latest version” of the proposed framework accord as he met with the visiting French, Russian and U.S. co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group on Saturday. A statement by his office said the document was “presented in the course of the Saint Petersburg negotiations between the presidents of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan.”  Read more... (527 words)

Kanat Saudabayev: There Is No Alternative To The Peaceful Settlement Of Karabakh Conflict

Kazakhstan can give a positive impetus to the negotiation process on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Kazakhstan’s State Secretary and Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev said.

“We believe Kazakhstan as OSCE chair that has a common history with Azerbaijan and Armenia, and is informed about of the history of the issue could give a positive impetus to the negotiation process, building confidence between Baku and Yerevan,” Saudabayev said in an interview with Trend.

I have started my first visit as the OSCE Chairman from Azerbaijan and Armenia and this speaks about the importance the Kazakh presidency gives to promoting settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Saudabayev said.  Read more... (305 words)

U.S., Russian Mediators Visit Karabakh

Senior U.S. and Russian envoys visited Nagorno-Karabakh and met with its ethnic Armenian leaders on Friday at the start of a fresh regional tour aimed at facilitating a breakthrough in Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks.

The two ministers are due to meet — most probably in the presence of top diplomats from the United States, Russia and France — on the margins of the OSCE’s July 16-17 ministerial conference in Almaty, Kazakhstan.  Read more... (490 words)