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BAKU WANTS PEACE FOR NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
March 16 2015
16 March 2015, 16:07 (GMT+04:00)
By Mushvig Mehdiyev
Azerbaijan has once again voiced its willingness to be actively
involved in negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh peace project, in
an effort to succeed in brokering a breakthrough agreement towards
the resolution of the conflict.
Foreign Minister, Elmar Mammadyarov said Azerbaijan is ready to start
working on a peace agreement in view of solving the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict based on a specific timetable, at a meeting with Rapporteur
of the Political Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of
the Council of Europe, Robert Walter on March 13.
Mammadyarov noted that as a first step towards the conflict resolution,
Armenian armed forces must withdraw from the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan in keeping with international law and UNSC resolutions.
"Armenia continues to demonstrate a non-constructive position, to
carry out an aggressive policy and to protract the settlement of the
conflict," he noted.
Focusing on the negotiation process attempting to settle the
Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict via the mediation of
the co-chairs of Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
Minsk Group, the diplomats exchanged their respective views.
The Minsk Group of the OSCE stands for a mediation role to achieve
an end to the festering Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between the two
neighboring South Caucasus nations. Peaceful settlement of the
conflict is a top priority for the group and an armed attempt to
solve the issue is unequivocally inadmissible in the group's agenda.
Nonetheless, the Minsk Group has not yet achieved peace, despite over
two decades of acting as a conciliator.
Meanwhile, the U.S. ambassador to Baku reiterated the White House's
support to the efforts exerted by the OSCE Minsk Group toward the
settlement of the conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Robert Cekuta emphasized the OSCE Minsk
Group is an important format and that the settlement of the conflict
lies on both actors' shoulders.
"The parties should have a political will in light of ensuring a
progress in the conflict's settlement," said Cekuta.
He added that the U.S., in turn, will keep on supporting all
negotiation endeavors conducted by the OSCE Minsk Group.
The U.S has recently shown more eagerness towards resolving the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in view of violent flare-ups. The White
House made clear it did not view the arrest and subsequent sentencing
of two Azerbaijani nationals by Armenia as a healthy development.
Through both the Minsk Group and its officials, the U.S. called
on Yerevan to surrender both prisoners back to Baku, and end its
aggressive stance towards Azerbaijan. Washington made clear that the
handover of the prisoners is the only acceptable way forward.
Armenia and Azerbaijan remain locked in a bitter territorial dispute
over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which Armenia-backed separatists
seized from Azerbaijan in a bloody war in the early 1990s.
Azerbaijan's internationally recognized Nagorno-Karabakh territory
was turned into a battlefield and zone of aggravated tensions after
Armenia sent its troops to occupy Azerbaijan's lands. As a result,
20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory stands
under military occupation. For the past two decades, and despite calls
from the international community, Armenia has refused to withdraw
its troops and retreat within its national borders.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs
of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are currently
holding peace negotiations.
http://www.azernews.az/azerbaijan/79108.html
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
March 16 2015
16 March 2015, 16:07 (GMT+04:00)
By Mushvig Mehdiyev
Azerbaijan has once again voiced its willingness to be actively
involved in negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh peace project, in
an effort to succeed in brokering a breakthrough agreement towards
the resolution of the conflict.
Foreign Minister, Elmar Mammadyarov said Azerbaijan is ready to start
working on a peace agreement in view of solving the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict based on a specific timetable, at a meeting with Rapporteur
of the Political Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of
the Council of Europe, Robert Walter on March 13.
Mammadyarov noted that as a first step towards the conflict resolution,
Armenian armed forces must withdraw from the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan in keeping with international law and UNSC resolutions.
"Armenia continues to demonstrate a non-constructive position, to
carry out an aggressive policy and to protract the settlement of the
conflict," he noted.
Focusing on the negotiation process attempting to settle the
Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict via the mediation of
the co-chairs of Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
Minsk Group, the diplomats exchanged their respective views.
The Minsk Group of the OSCE stands for a mediation role to achieve
an end to the festering Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between the two
neighboring South Caucasus nations. Peaceful settlement of the
conflict is a top priority for the group and an armed attempt to
solve the issue is unequivocally inadmissible in the group's agenda.
Nonetheless, the Minsk Group has not yet achieved peace, despite over
two decades of acting as a conciliator.
Meanwhile, the U.S. ambassador to Baku reiterated the White House's
support to the efforts exerted by the OSCE Minsk Group toward the
settlement of the conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Robert Cekuta emphasized the OSCE Minsk
Group is an important format and that the settlement of the conflict
lies on both actors' shoulders.
"The parties should have a political will in light of ensuring a
progress in the conflict's settlement," said Cekuta.
He added that the U.S., in turn, will keep on supporting all
negotiation endeavors conducted by the OSCE Minsk Group.
The U.S has recently shown more eagerness towards resolving the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in view of violent flare-ups. The White
House made clear it did not view the arrest and subsequent sentencing
of two Azerbaijani nationals by Armenia as a healthy development.
Through both the Minsk Group and its officials, the U.S. called
on Yerevan to surrender both prisoners back to Baku, and end its
aggressive stance towards Azerbaijan. Washington made clear that the
handover of the prisoners is the only acceptable way forward.
Armenia and Azerbaijan remain locked in a bitter territorial dispute
over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which Armenia-backed separatists
seized from Azerbaijan in a bloody war in the early 1990s.
Azerbaijan's internationally recognized Nagorno-Karabakh territory
was turned into a battlefield and zone of aggravated tensions after
Armenia sent its troops to occupy Azerbaijan's lands. As a result,
20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory stands
under military occupation. For the past two decades, and despite calls
from the international community, Armenia has refused to withdraw
its troops and retreat within its national borders.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs
of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are currently
holding peace negotiations.
http://www.azernews.az/azerbaijan/79108.html