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U.S. brings Armenia, Azerbaijan leaders together at NATO summit
by Emil Sanamyan
Published: Thursday September 04, 2014
Kerry with presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan. Official photo
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Karabakh death toll mounts in tit-for-tat attacks
WASHINGTON - Amid a deteriorating security situation in Ukraine and
the Middle East, Secretary of State John Kerry organized a trilateral
meeting with Ilham Aliyev and Serge Sargsyan, as the two attended the
NATO Summit in Cardiff, Wales on September 4, the Armenian president's
officereported.
In what was the first such meeting since former Secretary of State
Colin Powell mediated between then presidents Heydar Aliyev and Robert
Kocharian, Kerry emphasized, yet again, that the Karabakh conflict
could only have a peaceful resolution and urged the sides to find ways
to reduce tensions.
In late July - early August, at least seven Armenian and seventeen
Azerbaijani servicemen were killed in direct combat, raids or sniper
attacks in Karabakh. Tensions reduced ahead of the trilateral meeting
with the Russian president Vladimir Putin on August 9 in Sochi. No new
fatal incidents have been reported on the Armenian-Azerbaijani line of
contact since then.
Meantime, tensions between Russia and the West over Russian military
operations in Ukraine have been escalating since February and are at
their worst since the 1980s. The fighting between Ukrainian forces and
pro-Russian rebels in the east of the country directly backed by the
Russian military have left close to 3000 people dead.
In such an environment, the on-again, off-again negotiations over
Karabakh might effectively return to the two-track approach that
existed before 1997, when Russia, on the one hand, and U.S. and
European states pursued separate, although occasionally overlapping,
mediation missions.
Media reports suggested that an Armenian-Azerbaijani summit may soon
be organized by the French president Francois Hollande.
NATO and Karabakh
In his remarks earlier in the day, the Armenian president called on
NATO to endorse the neutral language with regard to the Karabakh peace
process, developed by the Minsk Group co-chairs - France, Russia and
the United States - and resist lobbying from one of its members -
presumably Turkey - for language that leans more in favor of
Azerbaijan.
The latter approach, Sargsyan said, is tantamount to a "silent
approval of xenophobia, militaristic rhetoric and all future
provocations [on the Line of Contact], resulting in the loss of life,
which Azerbaijan is provoking with such ease and no regard for the
lives of its own soldiers."
Sargsyan declined to go to the previous NATO summits held in Chicago
in 2012 and Lisbon in 2010, citing its statements that emphasized
"territorial integrity" in post-Soviet conflict resolution. But the
non-attendance was also seen as Armenia's deference to Russia, whose
leader has also shunned them.
Tevan Poghosyan, a parliament member for the opposition Heritage party
who has long worked to promote Armenia-NATO ties, approved of the
president's presence at the latest summit.
"Armenia must first of all be guided by its own interests, rather than
be looking out for the reactions of others," Poghosyan told the RFE/RL
Armenian Service and pointed to the growing Armenian-NATO cooperation
over the last decade.
Last month, Armenia's deputy defense minister David Tonoyan similarly
emphasized continued military cooperation with the United States,
while on a visit to Washington.
http://www.reporter.am/index.cfm?objectid,96B516-3480-11E4-BF4900155D008B1E
From: Baghdasarian
by Emil Sanamyan
Published: Thursday September 04, 2014
Kerry with presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan. Official photo
Related Articles
Official: US-Armenia security cooperation will survive Russia-Ukraine crisis
Congress members charge Aliyev regime with Karabakh escalation
Karabakh death toll mounts in tit-for-tat attacks
WASHINGTON - Amid a deteriorating security situation in Ukraine and
the Middle East, Secretary of State John Kerry organized a trilateral
meeting with Ilham Aliyev and Serge Sargsyan, as the two attended the
NATO Summit in Cardiff, Wales on September 4, the Armenian president's
officereported.
In what was the first such meeting since former Secretary of State
Colin Powell mediated between then presidents Heydar Aliyev and Robert
Kocharian, Kerry emphasized, yet again, that the Karabakh conflict
could only have a peaceful resolution and urged the sides to find ways
to reduce tensions.
In late July - early August, at least seven Armenian and seventeen
Azerbaijani servicemen were killed in direct combat, raids or sniper
attacks in Karabakh. Tensions reduced ahead of the trilateral meeting
with the Russian president Vladimir Putin on August 9 in Sochi. No new
fatal incidents have been reported on the Armenian-Azerbaijani line of
contact since then.
Meantime, tensions between Russia and the West over Russian military
operations in Ukraine have been escalating since February and are at
their worst since the 1980s. The fighting between Ukrainian forces and
pro-Russian rebels in the east of the country directly backed by the
Russian military have left close to 3000 people dead.
In such an environment, the on-again, off-again negotiations over
Karabakh might effectively return to the two-track approach that
existed before 1997, when Russia, on the one hand, and U.S. and
European states pursued separate, although occasionally overlapping,
mediation missions.
Media reports suggested that an Armenian-Azerbaijani summit may soon
be organized by the French president Francois Hollande.
NATO and Karabakh
In his remarks earlier in the day, the Armenian president called on
NATO to endorse the neutral language with regard to the Karabakh peace
process, developed by the Minsk Group co-chairs - France, Russia and
the United States - and resist lobbying from one of its members -
presumably Turkey - for language that leans more in favor of
Azerbaijan.
The latter approach, Sargsyan said, is tantamount to a "silent
approval of xenophobia, militaristic rhetoric and all future
provocations [on the Line of Contact], resulting in the loss of life,
which Azerbaijan is provoking with such ease and no regard for the
lives of its own soldiers."
Sargsyan declined to go to the previous NATO summits held in Chicago
in 2012 and Lisbon in 2010, citing its statements that emphasized
"territorial integrity" in post-Soviet conflict resolution. But the
non-attendance was also seen as Armenia's deference to Russia, whose
leader has also shunned them.
Tevan Poghosyan, a parliament member for the opposition Heritage party
who has long worked to promote Armenia-NATO ties, approved of the
president's presence at the latest summit.
"Armenia must first of all be guided by its own interests, rather than
be looking out for the reactions of others," Poghosyan told the RFE/RL
Armenian Service and pointed to the growing Armenian-NATO cooperation
over the last decade.
Last month, Armenia's deputy defense minister David Tonoyan similarly
emphasized continued military cooperation with the United States,
while on a visit to Washington.
http://www.reporter.am/index.cfm?objectid,96B516-3480-11E4-BF4900155D008B1E
From: Baghdasarian