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New York Times
June 24 2011
Azerbaijan and Armenia Fail to End Enclave Dispute
By ELLEN BARRY
Published: June 24, 2011
MOSCOW - Hopes for a breakthrough on a conflict between Azerbaijan and
Armenia were deflated Friday when Russia, which convened talks in the
city of Kazan, released a statement saying that the leaders of the two
countries had not agreed to the framework for a deal.
International mediators had set the bar high for the presidential
talks on Friday, calling for approval of a set of basic principles
that would defuse the standoff over Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian
enclave that sought to break away from Azerbaijan toward the end of
the Soviet period.
After a meeting that lasted more than an hour, the sides released a
statement saying that a `common understanding had been reached on a
number of issues whose resolution will help create the conditions for
approval of the basic principles.'
Russia, France and the United States had applied concerted pressure on
the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to approve the basic principles
in Kazan. Russia's president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, has invested
abundant time and political capital in the project, but the approach
of the Russian election season will make that more difficult now.
`This was supposed to be the moment,' said Thomas de Waal, a Caucasus
specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in
Washington. `Every year that this goes on, the positions of the sides
harden, and therefore it becomes easier to have a war.'
A diplomat involved in the talks, who spoke on the condition of
anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the news media,
said that Friday's talks were `not a make-or-break meeting' and that
work on an agreement would continue. The diplomat said, however, that
the two sides had made less progress than mediators had hoped.
`It was clear in the talks that there is still a great deal of
mistrust between the sides,' he said. `We all felt it would be
possible to achieve more.'
Domestic politics have proved to be a formidable obstacle to a resolution.
The two-decade stalemate over Nagorno-Karabakh has stoked ferocious
passions in both Armenia and Azerbaijan, and their leaders risk an
angry domestic reaction if they are seen as conceding. As the Kazan
meeting approached, mediators said substantive differences were small,
but it was not clear whether the leaders had the political will to
present a deal to their citizens.
Like the ethnic enclaves of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in neighboring
Georgia, Nagorno-Karabakh had limited autonomy in the Soviet system.
When its predominantly Armenian population tried to break away from
Azerbaijan and join Armenia near the end of the Soviet era, war broke
out, leaving as many as 20,000 people dead and more than a million
displaced.
A cease-fire has been in place since 1994, but about 30 people have
been killed annually on the boundary, and stalled negotiations have
ratcheted up talk of war. Azerbaijan, in particular, has channeled its
oil wealth into a military buildup; it plans to flaunt its power in a
parade in the capital, Baku, on Sunday.
Agreement on the basic principles would allow work to begin on a peace
treaty. The principles include granting Nagorno-Karabakh an interim
self-governing status, returning a buffer zone to Azerbaijani control,
guaranteeing refugees the right of return, providing a safe corridor
between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, creating an international
peacekeeping force, and - perhaps the thorniest challenge - beginning
the process of determining the enclave's ultimate status.
Svante E. Cornell, a Caucasus expert at the School of Advanced
International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, said this round of
talks felt too familiar to give him much optimism.
`To be disappointed, you have to have expectations,' Mr. Cornell said.
`I did not. Having tracked this conflict for a decade, there have been
so many moments when co-chairs and others have expressed hopes, but
nothing came out of it.'
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/25/world/asia/25karabakh.html
From: Baghdasarian
June 24 2011
Azerbaijan and Armenia Fail to End Enclave Dispute
By ELLEN BARRY
Published: June 24, 2011
MOSCOW - Hopes for a breakthrough on a conflict between Azerbaijan and
Armenia were deflated Friday when Russia, which convened talks in the
city of Kazan, released a statement saying that the leaders of the two
countries had not agreed to the framework for a deal.
International mediators had set the bar high for the presidential
talks on Friday, calling for approval of a set of basic principles
that would defuse the standoff over Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian
enclave that sought to break away from Azerbaijan toward the end of
the Soviet period.
After a meeting that lasted more than an hour, the sides released a
statement saying that a `common understanding had been reached on a
number of issues whose resolution will help create the conditions for
approval of the basic principles.'
Russia, France and the United States had applied concerted pressure on
the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to approve the basic principles
in Kazan. Russia's president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, has invested
abundant time and political capital in the project, but the approach
of the Russian election season will make that more difficult now.
`This was supposed to be the moment,' said Thomas de Waal, a Caucasus
specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in
Washington. `Every year that this goes on, the positions of the sides
harden, and therefore it becomes easier to have a war.'
A diplomat involved in the talks, who spoke on the condition of
anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the news media,
said that Friday's talks were `not a make-or-break meeting' and that
work on an agreement would continue. The diplomat said, however, that
the two sides had made less progress than mediators had hoped.
`It was clear in the talks that there is still a great deal of
mistrust between the sides,' he said. `We all felt it would be
possible to achieve more.'
Domestic politics have proved to be a formidable obstacle to a resolution.
The two-decade stalemate over Nagorno-Karabakh has stoked ferocious
passions in both Armenia and Azerbaijan, and their leaders risk an
angry domestic reaction if they are seen as conceding. As the Kazan
meeting approached, mediators said substantive differences were small,
but it was not clear whether the leaders had the political will to
present a deal to their citizens.
Like the ethnic enclaves of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in neighboring
Georgia, Nagorno-Karabakh had limited autonomy in the Soviet system.
When its predominantly Armenian population tried to break away from
Azerbaijan and join Armenia near the end of the Soviet era, war broke
out, leaving as many as 20,000 people dead and more than a million
displaced.
A cease-fire has been in place since 1994, but about 30 people have
been killed annually on the boundary, and stalled negotiations have
ratcheted up talk of war. Azerbaijan, in particular, has channeled its
oil wealth into a military buildup; it plans to flaunt its power in a
parade in the capital, Baku, on Sunday.
Agreement on the basic principles would allow work to begin on a peace
treaty. The principles include granting Nagorno-Karabakh an interim
self-governing status, returning a buffer zone to Azerbaijani control,
guaranteeing refugees the right of return, providing a safe corridor
between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, creating an international
peacekeeping force, and - perhaps the thorniest challenge - beginning
the process of determining the enclave's ultimate status.
Svante E. Cornell, a Caucasus expert at the School of Advanced
International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, said this round of
talks felt too familiar to give him much optimism.
`To be disappointed, you have to have expectations,' Mr. Cornell said.
`I did not. Having tracked this conflict for a decade, there have been
so many moments when co-chairs and others have expressed hopes, but
nothing came out of it.'
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/25/world/asia/25karabakh.html
From: Baghdasarian