Tweet
AZERBAIJAN WILL NEVER CONCEDE TO NAGORNY KARABAKH - PRESIDENT
The Financial
July 14 2010
Georgia
The FINANCIAL -- BAKU. Azerbaijan will never make concessions to
the breakaway region of Nagorny Karabakh, Azerbaijani state-run news
agency AzerTAc said, quoting President Ilham Aliyev, RIA Novosti says.
"The Azerbaijani state and Azerbaijani people will never provide
Nagorny Karabakh with any status that could divide it from Azerbaijan,"
Aliyev was quoted as saying during a cabinet meeting on July 13.
A long-standing dispute over Nagorny Karabakh, a breakaway region
inside Azerbaijan with a predominantly ethnic Armenian population, has
been a sticking point in relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The
conflict first erupted in 1988, when the region claimed independence
from Azerbaijan to join Armenia.
A fragile ceasefire has been in place in the region since a brutal war
between the two countries over the disputed enclave in early 1990s,
which claimed more than 30,000 lives on both sides. Karabakh has
since remained under Armenian control.
Baku has fiercely opposed any decision on Karabakh that could be
interpreted as giving the region independence from Azerbaijan.
In May, the region elected a 33-seat parliament with a voter turnout
of almost 68%. Azerbaijani officials called the elections "illegal,"
saying they could seriously harm peace efforts.
The conflict is mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group, comprising the
United States, Russia and France.
The OSCE Madrid principles, adopted in November 2007, envisage a
stage-by-stage resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict that
should start with the gradual liberation of parts of Azerbaijan
bordering Karabakh that were partly or fully occupied by Karabakh
Armenian forces during the 1991-94 war. In return, Karabakh should
retain a corridor to Armenia and be able to determine its final status
in a future referendum.
In January, Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed a preamble to an agreement
on Nagorny Karabakh, revising and updating the Madrid principles.
However, Azerbaijan later renewed threats of military action to retake
the disputed region over a lack of progress at talks with Armenia.
From: A. Papazian
The Financial
July 14 2010
Georgia
The FINANCIAL -- BAKU. Azerbaijan will never make concessions to
the breakaway region of Nagorny Karabakh, Azerbaijani state-run news
agency AzerTAc said, quoting President Ilham Aliyev, RIA Novosti says.
"The Azerbaijani state and Azerbaijani people will never provide
Nagorny Karabakh with any status that could divide it from Azerbaijan,"
Aliyev was quoted as saying during a cabinet meeting on July 13.
A long-standing dispute over Nagorny Karabakh, a breakaway region
inside Azerbaijan with a predominantly ethnic Armenian population, has
been a sticking point in relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The
conflict first erupted in 1988, when the region claimed independence
from Azerbaijan to join Armenia.
A fragile ceasefire has been in place in the region since a brutal war
between the two countries over the disputed enclave in early 1990s,
which claimed more than 30,000 lives on both sides. Karabakh has
since remained under Armenian control.
Baku has fiercely opposed any decision on Karabakh that could be
interpreted as giving the region independence from Azerbaijan.
In May, the region elected a 33-seat parliament with a voter turnout
of almost 68%. Azerbaijani officials called the elections "illegal,"
saying they could seriously harm peace efforts.
The conflict is mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group, comprising the
United States, Russia and France.
The OSCE Madrid principles, adopted in November 2007, envisage a
stage-by-stage resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict that
should start with the gradual liberation of parts of Azerbaijan
bordering Karabakh that were partly or fully occupied by Karabakh
Armenian forces during the 1991-94 war. In return, Karabakh should
retain a corridor to Armenia and be able to determine its final status
in a future referendum.
In January, Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed a preamble to an agreement
on Nagorny Karabakh, revising and updating the Madrid principles.
However, Azerbaijan later renewed threats of military action to retake
the disputed region over a lack of progress at talks with Armenia.
From: A. Papazian