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US DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE HOPES FOR PROGRESS IN SETTLEMENT OF NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT NEXT YEAR
APA
Nov 30 2011
Azerbaijan
"US still believes Turkish-Armenian rapprochement process and
encourages both governments"
Washington. Isabel Levine - APA. "The US hopes for settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within a short period of time", Eric Rubin,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the European and Eurasian
Affairs stated in Washington DC, APA US correspondent reports.
Speaking at the conference "South Caucasus 20 Years After
Independence", deputy assistant secretary said, "we are doing
everything we can now, to support the Minsk Group in helping and hoping
move to actual peace talks in Nagorno-Karabakh after so many years".
"We're still working now to agree on basic principles, but the
commitment is very strong and we believe the commitment is there from
both Armenia and Azerbaijan and we're hoping that this coming year
will be a year of progress on that after several years of halting
progress", he mentioned.
Rubin also added that, "this is not a success story in the sense that
there is not a lot of progress toward peace talks and a settlement
in 20 years". "But I also think it's important to note that through
international efforts, through the OSCE; Minsk Group; our engagement;
the engagement of Russia, France, of other countries, we've also
helped Armenia and Azerbaijan avoid outright conflict".
Speaking about the Turkish-Armenian rapprochement, Mr. Rubin
mentioned that, the US still believes this process and encourages both
governments, but however, with elections obviously having concluded
in Turkey and now getting under way in Armenia, as well as the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue, are challenging.
Mr. Rubin also talked about Azerbaijan's development, saying,
on the economic side the development of independent pathways for
energy exports has really changed the entire scene, certainly from
political independence in 1991 to increasingly economic independence,"
which leads to a significant increase in political independence
- a remarkable rise in standard of living - again, very active
engagement, support for the international effort in Afghanistan,
for other international efforts, really playing a very important role
globally in a way that would have been unthinkable 20 years ago".
He said the dialog and cooperation between Azerbaijan and the US has
always been productive and positive.
Answering the question about the recent news about the Azerbaijani
journalist who apparently was murdered deputy assistant secretary
reminded that the embassy in Baku issued a very clear statement.
"We don't know the facts; we can't say exactly why it happened. I
don't think it's clear at this point. But it is the kind of thing
that causes great concern", he added
"Azerbaijani government deserves credit for immediately calling for a
special investigative group to look into the circumstances around the
death of Mr. Taghi", he said adding the US and Azerbaijani government
has a very good dialogue
The deputy assistant secretary also mentioned that the US supports
South Caucasus integration to the European neighborhood.
A two-day conference on "The South Caucasus 20 Years After
Independence" was held in the US Capital. The Carnegie Endowment hosted
the event that tries to examine the lessons learned from twenty years
of independence and state-building in all South Caucasus countries
and discuss the best paths of future development in the region.
APA
Nov 30 2011
Azerbaijan
"US still believes Turkish-Armenian rapprochement process and
encourages both governments"
Washington. Isabel Levine - APA. "The US hopes for settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within a short period of time", Eric Rubin,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the European and Eurasian
Affairs stated in Washington DC, APA US correspondent reports.
Speaking at the conference "South Caucasus 20 Years After
Independence", deputy assistant secretary said, "we are doing
everything we can now, to support the Minsk Group in helping and hoping
move to actual peace talks in Nagorno-Karabakh after so many years".
"We're still working now to agree on basic principles, but the
commitment is very strong and we believe the commitment is there from
both Armenia and Azerbaijan and we're hoping that this coming year
will be a year of progress on that after several years of halting
progress", he mentioned.
Rubin also added that, "this is not a success story in the sense that
there is not a lot of progress toward peace talks and a settlement
in 20 years". "But I also think it's important to note that through
international efforts, through the OSCE; Minsk Group; our engagement;
the engagement of Russia, France, of other countries, we've also
helped Armenia and Azerbaijan avoid outright conflict".
Speaking about the Turkish-Armenian rapprochement, Mr. Rubin
mentioned that, the US still believes this process and encourages both
governments, but however, with elections obviously having concluded
in Turkey and now getting under way in Armenia, as well as the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue, are challenging.
Mr. Rubin also talked about Azerbaijan's development, saying,
on the economic side the development of independent pathways for
energy exports has really changed the entire scene, certainly from
political independence in 1991 to increasingly economic independence,"
which leads to a significant increase in political independence
- a remarkable rise in standard of living - again, very active
engagement, support for the international effort in Afghanistan,
for other international efforts, really playing a very important role
globally in a way that would have been unthinkable 20 years ago".
He said the dialog and cooperation between Azerbaijan and the US has
always been productive and positive.
Answering the question about the recent news about the Azerbaijani
journalist who apparently was murdered deputy assistant secretary
reminded that the embassy in Baku issued a very clear statement.
"We don't know the facts; we can't say exactly why it happened. I
don't think it's clear at this point. But it is the kind of thing
that causes great concern", he added
"Azerbaijani government deserves credit for immediately calling for a
special investigative group to look into the circumstances around the
death of Mr. Taghi", he said adding the US and Azerbaijani government
has a very good dialogue
The deputy assistant secretary also mentioned that the US supports
South Caucasus integration to the European neighborhood.
A two-day conference on "The South Caucasus 20 Years After
Independence" was held in the US Capital. The Carnegie Endowment hosted
the event that tries to examine the lessons learned from twenty years
of independence and state-building in all South Caucasus countries
and discuss the best paths of future development in the region.