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BAKU: Baku Expects Nagorno-Karabakh Mediators To Step Up Efforts

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  • BAKU: Baku Expects Nagorno-Karabakh Mediators To Step Up Efforts

    BAKU EXPECTS NAGORNO-KARABAKH MEDIATORS TO STEP UP EFFORTS

    AzerNews, Azerbaijan
    Aug 6 2013

    6 August 2013, 14:50 (GMT+05:00)
    By Sara Rajabova

    Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry expects decisive steps from the OSCE Minsk
    Group over the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh
    conflict.

    "We hope that the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group will step up
    their activity for a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and
    demonstrate a more decisive and expedient approach in this regard,"
    Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev said while commenting
    on the appointment of the new US co-chair of the Minsk Group, local
    media reported.

    US Secretary of State John Kerry announced on August 5 the appointment
    of Ambassador James Warlick as the next US co-chair of the Minsk Group.

    Adbullayev said each of the co-chairing countries has its own approach
    to the resolution of the conflict and it remains unchanged regardless
    of the diplomat working as a Minsk Group co-chair.

    "Every diplomat fulfills his country's mission. Of course,
    professionalism and human factors are very important," Abdullayev said.

    The ministry spokesman added that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
    remains unresolved due to Armenia's unconstructive position and
    Azerbaijan is concerned over the lack of adequate response to this
    by the international community.

    In a statement on the appointment of the new mediator to the Minsk
    Group, Secretary Kerry said that the United States is firmly committed
    to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution, the U.S. State Department
    website said.

    "He is a first-rate diplomat, and I am confident that he will do
    a tremendous job in this critical post. The United States remains
    firmly committed to helping the sides reach a lasting and peaceful
    settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," Kerry said.

    Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing
    of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Armenian armed forces have since
    occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized
    territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions,
    defying the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on a pullout
    from the occupied territories.

    Ambassador Warlick is due to take up his new position in September.

    He most recently served as Deputy Special Representative for
    Afghanistan and Pakistan and lead negotiator for the Bilateral Security
    Agreement with Afghanistan. He served as Ambassador to Bulgaria from
    2009-2012, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau
    of International Organization Affairs from 2006 to 2009 and Director
    of the Office of European Security and Political Affairs from 2005
    to 2006.

    Ian Kelly currently acts as a temporary representative of the United
    States to the Minsk Group.

    Kelly was named as the US co-chair on an interim basis on December 21,
    2012, pending the appointment of a new permanent co-chair.

    In December Robert Bradtke completed his term as the U.S. Minsk
    Group co-chair.

    The United States, along with Russia and France, has long been working
    to broker a solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through the
    Minsk Group, but their efforts have been largely fruitless so far.

    Peace talks are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by
    the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles, also known
    as Basic Principles. The document envisions a return of the territories
    surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani control; determining the
    final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh; a corridor linking Armenia
    to the region; and the right of all internally displaced persons to
    return home.

    http://www.azernews.az/azerbaijan/57827.html

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