Interfax, Russia
May 12 2012
Armenian FM criticizes Azeri colleague for unconstructive approach to
Karabakh problem
YEREVAN. May 12
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian has accused Azerbaijan of
obstructing the efforts to achieve a peaceful settlement of the
conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.
"Azerbaijan has been unable to overcome the temptation to resolve the
conflict in a military way, and, instead of preparing its people for
peace, is continuing militant rhetoric and provocations at the contact
line and acquiring huge amounts of weapons, which is obstructing the
process of settling the conflict and threatens the fragile situation
in the region," Nalbandian said at a meeting with the co-chairs of the
OSCE Minsk Group for settling the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh in
Yerevan on Saturday.
Nalbandian sees as symbolic the co-chairs' visit to the region on the
18th anniversary of the arrangement of a truce between the conflicting
parties, the Armenian Foreign Ministry told Interfax.
Nalbandian also said that the parties have had several occasions to
come close to settling the problem in the past 18 years, "but every
time Azerbaijan backtracked and hampered the reaching of an
agreement."
The conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh is an ethnic-political one.
Differences between the Azeris and Armenians have long historical and
cultural roots. The conflict worsened in 1987-1988 and grew into
large-scale military actions for control over Nagorno-Karabakh and
some adjacent territories in 1991-1994. As a result, Armenia occupied
Nagorno-Karabakh and seven Azeri districts around it, turning about 1
million Azeris into refugees and displaced persons.
Azerbaijan and Armenia are negotiating the settlement of the conflict
via mediation of the three OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs representing
Russia, France, and the U.S. The region's status remains among the
principal stumbling blocks in the talks. In seeking the problem's
resolution, the mediators are trying to combine two international law
principles, i.e. that of territorial integrity, which Baku favors, and
that of nations' right to self-determination, championed by Yerevan.
va jv
May 12 2012
Armenian FM criticizes Azeri colleague for unconstructive approach to
Karabakh problem
YEREVAN. May 12
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian has accused Azerbaijan of
obstructing the efforts to achieve a peaceful settlement of the
conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.
"Azerbaijan has been unable to overcome the temptation to resolve the
conflict in a military way, and, instead of preparing its people for
peace, is continuing militant rhetoric and provocations at the contact
line and acquiring huge amounts of weapons, which is obstructing the
process of settling the conflict and threatens the fragile situation
in the region," Nalbandian said at a meeting with the co-chairs of the
OSCE Minsk Group for settling the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh in
Yerevan on Saturday.
Nalbandian sees as symbolic the co-chairs' visit to the region on the
18th anniversary of the arrangement of a truce between the conflicting
parties, the Armenian Foreign Ministry told Interfax.
Nalbandian also said that the parties have had several occasions to
come close to settling the problem in the past 18 years, "but every
time Azerbaijan backtracked and hampered the reaching of an
agreement."
The conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh is an ethnic-political one.
Differences between the Azeris and Armenians have long historical and
cultural roots. The conflict worsened in 1987-1988 and grew into
large-scale military actions for control over Nagorno-Karabakh and
some adjacent territories in 1991-1994. As a result, Armenia occupied
Nagorno-Karabakh and seven Azeri districts around it, turning about 1
million Azeris into refugees and displaced persons.
Azerbaijan and Armenia are negotiating the settlement of the conflict
via mediation of the three OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs representing
Russia, France, and the U.S. The region's status remains among the
principal stumbling blocks in the talks. In seeking the problem's
resolution, the mediators are trying to combine two international law
principles, i.e. that of territorial integrity, which Baku favors, and
that of nations' right to self-determination, championed by Yerevan.
va jv