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BAKU REJECTS SNIPER WITHDRAWAL
Asbarez
Thursday, June 14th, 2012
Azeri foreign minister Elmar Mammadyarov (right) with OSCE chairman
Eamon Gilmore in Baku
BAKU (RFE/RL)-Azerbaijan effectively rejected on Thursday renewed
international calls for the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
to unconditionally withdraw snipers from "the line of contact" and
agree to joint investigations of growing truce violations there.
Irish Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore, the chairman-in-office of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, voiced such calls
when visited Yerevan and Baku this week. He reportedly insisted on
the need for a concrete mechanism for such investigations after talks
with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov on Thursday.
News reports quoted Mammadyarov as saying that Baku agrees with the
idea, advanced by international mediators, in principle. "But that
mechanism could work only when Armenian troops start withdrawing from
Azerbaijan's occupied territories," he said, according to the APA
news agency. "Only in that case can the mechanism be put into action."
"If we start applying that mechanism now, that will only mean
reinforcing the status quo, which is unacceptable," Mammadyarov told
a joint news conference with Gilmore.
"If Armenia does not want its soldiers to die, then it must liberate
Azerbaijan's lands. If this happens, there will be no need for
snipers," added the Azerbaijani foreign minister.
The Armenian side has voiced support for both sniper withdrawal and
joint investigations. Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian reaffirmed
this stance after his meeting with Gilmore on Tuesday.
Asbarez
Thursday, June 14th, 2012
Azeri foreign minister Elmar Mammadyarov (right) with OSCE chairman
Eamon Gilmore in Baku
BAKU (RFE/RL)-Azerbaijan effectively rejected on Thursday renewed
international calls for the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
to unconditionally withdraw snipers from "the line of contact" and
agree to joint investigations of growing truce violations there.
Irish Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore, the chairman-in-office of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, voiced such calls
when visited Yerevan and Baku this week. He reportedly insisted on
the need for a concrete mechanism for such investigations after talks
with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov on Thursday.
News reports quoted Mammadyarov as saying that Baku agrees with the
idea, advanced by international mediators, in principle. "But that
mechanism could work only when Armenian troops start withdrawing from
Azerbaijan's occupied territories," he said, according to the APA
news agency. "Only in that case can the mechanism be put into action."
"If we start applying that mechanism now, that will only mean
reinforcing the status quo, which is unacceptable," Mammadyarov told
a joint news conference with Gilmore.
"If Armenia does not want its soldiers to die, then it must liberate
Azerbaijan's lands. If this happens, there will be no need for
snipers," added the Azerbaijani foreign minister.
The Armenian side has voiced support for both sniper withdrawal and
joint investigations. Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian reaffirmed
this stance after his meeting with Gilmore on Tuesday.