U.S. URGES RETURN OF DISPLACED AZERIS
Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
March 16 2006
The U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Asia, Daniel
Fried, today called for the return of all internally-displaced
Azerbaijanis to lands that have been occupied by ethnic-Armenian
forces since 1994, RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service reported.
Addressing reporters in Baku, Fried also cautioned against resumption
of hostilities between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed
enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.
“The process of Azerbaijanis returning to Azerbaijani lands should
begin as soon as possible and the war would be a catastrophe for
everyone.”
An estimated 600,000 Azeris and Kurds from areas surrounding Karabakh
were driven from their homes when Armenian forces moved into Azerbaijan
in the early 1990s.
The United States co-chairs the Minsk Group of nations that have been
charged by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) to help Armenia and Azerbaijan settle their 18-year-old
dispute. France and Russia are the other co-chairs.
Steven Mann, the U.S. envoy to the Minsk Group, today said in Baku
that both Armenia and Azerbaijan have an opportunity to achieve some
of their demands this year.
Mann and Fried are expected to travel to Armenia later this week
before attending a Minsk Group meeting in Istanbul.
(with additional material from Turan, Day.Az, APA) Radio Free Europe /
Radio Liberty © 2006 RFE/RL, 14 March 2006
–Boundary_(ID_0gmQOBRbZ9OIGZNelzZ4LA)–