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ITAR-TASS, Russia
July 2 2011
Iran ready to help settle Karabakh conflict if Azerbaijan asks for it.
BAKU, July 2 (Itar-Tass) - Iran will uphold any decision on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within Azerbaijan' s territorial integrity,
Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani said.
Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, Larijani said, `We've
always favoured the peaceful resolution of the Karabakh conflict.'
At the same time, the Iranian speaker stressed, `Iran doubts the
actions of big forces in the region.' `They are not solving problems,
but they are playing with them by pursuing their own interests,' he
noted.
As an example he cited the U.S. example: its interference into Iraq
and Afghanistan did not help solve the problem, but only delayed it.
Commenting on the talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, Larijani
said the OSCE Minsk Group `could take one or two steps towards the
settlement. That is why we prefer that the region's problems should be
solved in the region itself because the countries of the region know
their problems better'.
Speaking about Iran's participation in the Karabakh settlement as a
mediator, the speaker said, `There is the format of the Minsk Group.
Our Azerbaijani friends chose it.' `If they have another vision, they
should declare about it,' he said.
Larijani stressed that Iran was ready to help settle the conflict if
Azerbaijan asked for aid. `But in any case we always see our duty to
support Azerbaijan's territorial integrity,' the Iranian parliament
speaker pointed out.
Azerbaijani-Iranian relations are of huge importance for the
strengthening of the regional security, Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev said.
Aliyev stated that he is satisfied with the level of relations between
his country and Iran. Azerbaijan and Iran have an intensive
interaction in all spheres, he said.
`Political relations have been being enhanced. The two sides achieved
good results in the economic area,' the Azerbaijani leader said,
adding, `In particular, the two countries are implementing transport
and energy projects.'
Besides, he pointed to the need to step up further economic interaction.
President Aliyev also emphasized the good level of cultural,
humanitarian and interparliamentary cooperation between Azerbaijan and
Iran.
Larijani, in turn, stressed that the two countries have very promising
possibilities for the development of bilateral relations.
The speaker of the Iranian parliament also met his Azerbaijani
counterpart Oktay Asadov. `During the talks, Larijani and Asadov
exchanged views on the current status of and prospects for the
interparliamentary contacts, as well as discussed interstate relations
and the regional developments.'
The landlocked mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh is the subject
of an unresolved dispute between Azerbaijan, in which it lies, and its
ethnic Armenian majority, backed by neighbouring Armenia.
In 1988, towards the end of Soviet rule, Azerbaijani troops and
Armenian secessionists began a bloody war, which left the de facto
independent state in the hands of ethnic Armenians when a truce was
signed in 1994.
Negotiations have so far failed to produce a permanent peace
agreement, and the dispute remains one of post-Soviet Europe's "frozen
conflicts." With the break-up of the Soviet Union, in late 1991,
Karabakh declared itself an independent republic, further escalating
the conflict into a full-scale war. That de facto status has not been
recognised elsewhere.
In a December 2006 referendum, declared illegitimate by Azerbaijan,
the region approved a new constitution. Nonetheless, there have since
been signs of life in the peace process, with occasional meetings
between the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents. Significant progress
was reported at talks between the leaders in May and November 2009,
but progress then stalled, and tension began rising again as of 2010.
The OSCE Minsk Group was created in 1992 by the Conference on Security
and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE, now Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)) to encourage a peaceful, negotiated
resolution to the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over
Nagorno-Karabakh. The Minsk Group is headed by Russia, France and the
United States.
An additional format had been created over the Karabakh settlement -
Russia plays a mediating role. The presidents of three countries met
in Astrakhan in October 2010.
They adopted a joint declaration after the meeting. `This is a special
declaration on the enhancement of confidence-building measures,'
Medvedev said, adding that the document envisioned `an exchange of
prisoners of war and the return of the bodies.'
`Having confirmed the provisions of the joint Declaration signed in
Moscow on November 2, 2008, the presidents stressed that the
resolution of the conflict by political and diplomatic means requires
further efforts to strengthen the ceasefire and military
confidence-building measures,' the joint statement said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
July 2 2011
Iran ready to help settle Karabakh conflict if Azerbaijan asks for it.
BAKU, July 2 (Itar-Tass) - Iran will uphold any decision on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within Azerbaijan' s territorial integrity,
Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani said.
Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, Larijani said, `We've
always favoured the peaceful resolution of the Karabakh conflict.'
At the same time, the Iranian speaker stressed, `Iran doubts the
actions of big forces in the region.' `They are not solving problems,
but they are playing with them by pursuing their own interests,' he
noted.
As an example he cited the U.S. example: its interference into Iraq
and Afghanistan did not help solve the problem, but only delayed it.
Commenting on the talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, Larijani
said the OSCE Minsk Group `could take one or two steps towards the
settlement. That is why we prefer that the region's problems should be
solved in the region itself because the countries of the region know
their problems better'.
Speaking about Iran's participation in the Karabakh settlement as a
mediator, the speaker said, `There is the format of the Minsk Group.
Our Azerbaijani friends chose it.' `If they have another vision, they
should declare about it,' he said.
Larijani stressed that Iran was ready to help settle the conflict if
Azerbaijan asked for aid. `But in any case we always see our duty to
support Azerbaijan's territorial integrity,' the Iranian parliament
speaker pointed out.
Azerbaijani-Iranian relations are of huge importance for the
strengthening of the regional security, Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev said.
Aliyev stated that he is satisfied with the level of relations between
his country and Iran. Azerbaijan and Iran have an intensive
interaction in all spheres, he said.
`Political relations have been being enhanced. The two sides achieved
good results in the economic area,' the Azerbaijani leader said,
adding, `In particular, the two countries are implementing transport
and energy projects.'
Besides, he pointed to the need to step up further economic interaction.
President Aliyev also emphasized the good level of cultural,
humanitarian and interparliamentary cooperation between Azerbaijan and
Iran.
Larijani, in turn, stressed that the two countries have very promising
possibilities for the development of bilateral relations.
The speaker of the Iranian parliament also met his Azerbaijani
counterpart Oktay Asadov. `During the talks, Larijani and Asadov
exchanged views on the current status of and prospects for the
interparliamentary contacts, as well as discussed interstate relations
and the regional developments.'
The landlocked mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh is the subject
of an unresolved dispute between Azerbaijan, in which it lies, and its
ethnic Armenian majority, backed by neighbouring Armenia.
In 1988, towards the end of Soviet rule, Azerbaijani troops and
Armenian secessionists began a bloody war, which left the de facto
independent state in the hands of ethnic Armenians when a truce was
signed in 1994.
Negotiations have so far failed to produce a permanent peace
agreement, and the dispute remains one of post-Soviet Europe's "frozen
conflicts." With the break-up of the Soviet Union, in late 1991,
Karabakh declared itself an independent republic, further escalating
the conflict into a full-scale war. That de facto status has not been
recognised elsewhere.
In a December 2006 referendum, declared illegitimate by Azerbaijan,
the region approved a new constitution. Nonetheless, there have since
been signs of life in the peace process, with occasional meetings
between the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents. Significant progress
was reported at talks between the leaders in May and November 2009,
but progress then stalled, and tension began rising again as of 2010.
The OSCE Minsk Group was created in 1992 by the Conference on Security
and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE, now Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)) to encourage a peaceful, negotiated
resolution to the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over
Nagorno-Karabakh. The Minsk Group is headed by Russia, France and the
United States.
An additional format had been created over the Karabakh settlement -
Russia plays a mediating role. The presidents of three countries met
in Astrakhan in October 2010.
They adopted a joint declaration after the meeting. `This is a special
declaration on the enhancement of confidence-building measures,'
Medvedev said, adding that the document envisioned `an exchange of
prisoners of war and the return of the bodies.'
`Having confirmed the provisions of the joint Declaration signed in
Moscow on November 2, 2008, the presidents stressed that the
resolution of the conflict by political and diplomatic means requires
further efforts to strengthen the ceasefire and military
confidence-building measures,' the joint statement said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress