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Armenia-Turkey reconciliation must not affect Karabakh: rebels

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  • Armenia-Turkey reconciliation must not affect Karabakh: rebels

    Agence France Presse
    July 10 2009

    Armenia-Turkey reconciliation must not affect Karabakh: rebels

    STEPANAKERT, Azerbaijan, July 10 2009


    The reconciliation process between Armenia and Turkey must not be
    linked to the resolution of the Nagorny Karabakh conflict, the leader
    of Azerbaijan's separatist enclave said Friday.

    "Karabakh's independence is an accomplished fact and can not be under
    discussion," separatist leader Bako Sahakian told journalists on the
    sidelines of the All-Armenian Conference on Karabakh.

    "Progress in Armenian-Turkish relations can not and must not be made
    to the detriment of the Karabakh conflict's settlement," he said.

    "Such attempts to tie up the issues which lie in different planes will
    certainly lead to a deadlock."

    Nagorny Karabakh, inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians and effectively
    controlled by Armenia, declared independence from Azerbaijan in 1991,
    sparking a conflict that, according to differing estimates, claimed
    between 25,000 and 30,000 lives and displaced up to a million people.

    A ceasefire ended large-scale hostilities in 1994 but the dispute is
    far from resolved and sporadic shooting incidents continue between
    Armenian and Azerbaijani forces.

    One of Azerbaijan's staunchest allies, Turkey severed ties with
    Armenia, closed the two countries' shared border and imposed an
    economic blockade on Yerevan to protest its backing of Karabakh
    separatists.

    Turkey and Armenia recently agreed to move towards normalising
    relations, but Ankara insists that Karabakh's return to Azerbaijan is
    a pre-condition for full reconciliation.

    Karabakh's self-styled government is not recognised by any other
    state.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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