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Agence France Presse
June 23, 2011 Thursday 7:55 PM GMT
Obama urges progress towards Karabakh peace: Armenia
YEREVAN, June 23 2011
US President Barack Obama on Thursday called for progress in talks
between Armenia and Azerbaijan to end the long conflict over the
disputed region of Nagorny Karabakh, officials in Yerevan said.
Obama telephoned Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian ahead of the talks
in Russia on Friday and "stressed the importance of achieving
progress", according to a statement from the presidential
administration in Yerevan.
The US leader's intervention increases pressure on the bitter enemies
to sign a "basic principles" agreement amid fears that a failure to
show progress could lead to a new war over Karabakh, where some 30,000
died in fighting in the 1990s.
It was not immediately clear whether Obama also telephoned Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev.
The US, Russian and French presidents urged both countries to "move
beyond the unacceptable status quo" and "take a decisive step towards
a peaceful settlement" in a statement issued at the G8 summit last
month.
The statement urged the two states to sign the "basic principles"
document that envisages an Armenian withdrawal from areas around
Karabakh also seized during the war, the return of refugees,
international security guarantees, and a vote on the final status of
the territory at some point in the future.
The general secretary of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation
in Europe, which has been mediating in negotiations, expressed hope
this week that a breakthrough might be possible at Friday's talks.
"Very rarely have we observed moments when our hopes for a final peace
settlement have been as high as they are now," said OSCE General
Secretary Marc Perrin de Brichambaut.
But a basic principles agreement does not represent a peace deal and
the two sides remain deeply divided over the final status of Karabakh,
which was seized from Azerbaijan by ethnic Armenian forces backed by
Yerevan during the war.
Tensions have been escalating amid firefights along the Karabakh
frontline and threats from Azerbaijan to seize the region back by
force if talks don't yield results.
mkh-emc/mlr
June 23, 2011 Thursday 7:55 PM GMT
Obama urges progress towards Karabakh peace: Armenia
YEREVAN, June 23 2011
US President Barack Obama on Thursday called for progress in talks
between Armenia and Azerbaijan to end the long conflict over the
disputed region of Nagorny Karabakh, officials in Yerevan said.
Obama telephoned Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian ahead of the talks
in Russia on Friday and "stressed the importance of achieving
progress", according to a statement from the presidential
administration in Yerevan.
The US leader's intervention increases pressure on the bitter enemies
to sign a "basic principles" agreement amid fears that a failure to
show progress could lead to a new war over Karabakh, where some 30,000
died in fighting in the 1990s.
It was not immediately clear whether Obama also telephoned Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev.
The US, Russian and French presidents urged both countries to "move
beyond the unacceptable status quo" and "take a decisive step towards
a peaceful settlement" in a statement issued at the G8 summit last
month.
The statement urged the two states to sign the "basic principles"
document that envisages an Armenian withdrawal from areas around
Karabakh also seized during the war, the return of refugees,
international security guarantees, and a vote on the final status of
the territory at some point in the future.
The general secretary of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation
in Europe, which has been mediating in negotiations, expressed hope
this week that a breakthrough might be possible at Friday's talks.
"Very rarely have we observed moments when our hopes for a final peace
settlement have been as high as they are now," said OSCE General
Secretary Marc Perrin de Brichambaut.
But a basic principles agreement does not represent a peace deal and
the two sides remain deeply divided over the final status of Karabakh,
which was seized from Azerbaijan by ethnic Armenian forces backed by
Yerevan during the war.
Tensions have been escalating amid firefights along the Karabakh
frontline and threats from Azerbaijan to seize the region back by
force if talks don't yield results.
mkh-emc/mlr