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ERDOGAN RAISES KARABAKH ISSUE AT TALKS WITH OBAMA
Armenialiberty.org
http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/24527969.html
March 26 2012
The Turkish prime minister offered his nation's mediation in settling
the protracted Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh
as he held talks with the U.S. leader ahead of the South Korea-hosted
Nuclear Security Summit last weekend.
The meeting between United States President Barack Obama and Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that took place in Seoul on
Sunday reportedly focused on the current situation in Syria, but
also addressed some other regional concerns, including the dispute
in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Turkish newspapers quoted Erdogan as saying that while meeting with
Obama he raised the Karabakh issue, suggesting that while Ankara
was ready to try to boost negotiations by working with Azerbaijan,
it expected the three main mediating powers, including the United
States, to "step up pressure" on Armenia.
According to the newspaper Haberturk, the Turkish leader also said
that during the meeting he raised the issue of the efficiency of the
mediating work being conducted by the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Minsk Group, the main format co-headed
by the United States, Russia and France that spearheads international
efforts on brokering a solution to the long-running conflict. Erdogan,
in particular, is quoted as saying that the group has been unable to
find a way of settling the conflict for two decades now.
The White House did not immediately report on Obama's discussion of
Karabakh with Erdogan.
The remarks by Erdogan made ahead of the summit that was also to be
attended by Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian came shortly after
the three mediating powers reiterated their call for a quick peaceful
resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov and French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe issued a joint
statement last week on the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the
OSCE Minsk Group, stressing that "any delay in reaching a settlement
will only prolong the hardships" that the peoples of the region have
suffered. They also reiterated the mediating powers' strong opposition
to possible attempts by either warring side to resolve the conflict
by force, saying that it "would bring only more suffering to a region
that has known uncertainty and insecurity for too long."
Meanwhile, the Armenian president's press office on Monday released
Sarkisian's message to the mediating powers' leaders on the 20th
anniversary of the OSCE Minsk Group's establishment, in which he
underscores the "tremendous work" that has been done by the group's
co-chairs in "bringing the parties' positions closer together,
developing the basic principles of settlement, relieving tensions
and maintaining peace [in the conflict area]".
Sarkisian also assured the leaders of the United States, Russia and
France of Armenia's interest in finding a solution to the Karabakh
conflict and its commitment to having a continued "positive and
constructive" involvement in the Minsk Group-mediated peace process.
Armenialiberty.org
http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/24527969.html
March 26 2012
The Turkish prime minister offered his nation's mediation in settling
the protracted Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh
as he held talks with the U.S. leader ahead of the South Korea-hosted
Nuclear Security Summit last weekend.
The meeting between United States President Barack Obama and Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that took place in Seoul on
Sunday reportedly focused on the current situation in Syria, but
also addressed some other regional concerns, including the dispute
in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Turkish newspapers quoted Erdogan as saying that while meeting with
Obama he raised the Karabakh issue, suggesting that while Ankara
was ready to try to boost negotiations by working with Azerbaijan,
it expected the three main mediating powers, including the United
States, to "step up pressure" on Armenia.
According to the newspaper Haberturk, the Turkish leader also said
that during the meeting he raised the issue of the efficiency of the
mediating work being conducted by the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Minsk Group, the main format co-headed
by the United States, Russia and France that spearheads international
efforts on brokering a solution to the long-running conflict. Erdogan,
in particular, is quoted as saying that the group has been unable to
find a way of settling the conflict for two decades now.
The White House did not immediately report on Obama's discussion of
Karabakh with Erdogan.
The remarks by Erdogan made ahead of the summit that was also to be
attended by Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian came shortly after
the three mediating powers reiterated their call for a quick peaceful
resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov and French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe issued a joint
statement last week on the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the
OSCE Minsk Group, stressing that "any delay in reaching a settlement
will only prolong the hardships" that the peoples of the region have
suffered. They also reiterated the mediating powers' strong opposition
to possible attempts by either warring side to resolve the conflict
by force, saying that it "would bring only more suffering to a region
that has known uncertainty and insecurity for too long."
Meanwhile, the Armenian president's press office on Monday released
Sarkisian's message to the mediating powers' leaders on the 20th
anniversary of the OSCE Minsk Group's establishment, in which he
underscores the "tremendous work" that has been done by the group's
co-chairs in "bringing the parties' positions closer together,
developing the basic principles of settlement, relieving tensions
and maintaining peace [in the conflict area]".
Sarkisian also assured the leaders of the United States, Russia and
France of Armenia's interest in finding a solution to the Karabakh
conflict and its commitment to having a continued "positive and
constructive" involvement in the Minsk Group-mediated peace process.