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MINSK URGES PEACEFUL SOLUTION TO KARABAKH
Hurriyet Daily News
March 23 2012
Turkey
The United States, Russia and France yesterday urged Azerbaijan
and Armenia to show the "political will" needed to find a lasting
settlement to their conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov and French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe issued the
statement to mark the 20th anniversary of the formal request to
convene a conference on the conflict. In a joint statement issued by
the U.S. State Department, the three co-chairs of the so-called Minsk
Group said they "call upon the sides to demonstrate the political
will needed to achieve a lasting and peaceful settlement.
"A new generation has come of age in the region with no first-hand
memory of Armenians and Azeris living side by side, and prolonging
these artificial divisions only deepens the wounds of war," the
statement said. "For this reason, we urge the leaders of the sides
to prepare their populations for peace, not war," according to the
statement.
Armenian forces seized Nagorno-Karabakh and some surrounding territory
from Azerbaijan during a war in the early 1990s that claimed an
estimated 35,000 lives and forced about a million people on both
sides to flee their homes. A ceasefire was signed in 1994, but the
two countries have cut direct economic and transport links and failed
to negotiate a settlement on the status of the enclave.
But the joint statement said "progress toward peace has been made,"
citing joint presidential statements from the Minsk group over the last
three years outlining elements of a framework for a comprehensive peace
settlement. The Minsk Group was created in 1992 by the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to bring about a peaceful
resolution to the conflict. It is co-chaired by the United States,
Russia and France.
Hurriyet Daily News
March 23 2012
Turkey
The United States, Russia and France yesterday urged Azerbaijan
and Armenia to show the "political will" needed to find a lasting
settlement to their conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov and French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe issued the
statement to mark the 20th anniversary of the formal request to
convene a conference on the conflict. In a joint statement issued by
the U.S. State Department, the three co-chairs of the so-called Minsk
Group said they "call upon the sides to demonstrate the political
will needed to achieve a lasting and peaceful settlement.
"A new generation has come of age in the region with no first-hand
memory of Armenians and Azeris living side by side, and prolonging
these artificial divisions only deepens the wounds of war," the
statement said. "For this reason, we urge the leaders of the sides
to prepare their populations for peace, not war," according to the
statement.
Armenian forces seized Nagorno-Karabakh and some surrounding territory
from Azerbaijan during a war in the early 1990s that claimed an
estimated 35,000 lives and forced about a million people on both
sides to flee their homes. A ceasefire was signed in 1994, but the
two countries have cut direct economic and transport links and failed
to negotiate a settlement on the status of the enclave.
But the joint statement said "progress toward peace has been made,"
citing joint presidential statements from the Minsk group over the last
three years outlining elements of a framework for a comprehensive peace
settlement. The Minsk Group was created in 1992 by the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to bring about a peaceful
resolution to the conflict. It is co-chaired by the United States,
Russia and France.