BRYAN ARDOUNY: BAKU SHOULD AGREE TO DIRECT CONTACT WITH NAGORNO KARABAKH

PanARMENIAN.Net
31.01.2008 17:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Wall Street Journal Europe today published a
letter to the editor from the Armenian Assembly of America, in response
to an editorial by Azeri Foreign Affairs Minister Elmar Mammadyarov
entitled "The Caspian Moment." The Assembly letter sets the record
straight on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and urges Baku to agree to
confidence-building measures to further the negotiation process.

"The Wall Street Journal Europe Elmar Mammadyarov speaks about the
need for, and benefits of a negotiated settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh
("The Caspian Moment," State of the Union, Jan. 21). But he refers
to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Minsk
process – the negotiating framework for the Nagorno Karabakh peace
process – only in passing.

"Mr. Mammadyarov overlooks the fact that in the past 13 years, Armenia
and Nagorno Karabakh have accepted numerous proposals as basis for
negotiations – only to be rebuffed by Azerbaijan, which also refuses to
undertake confidence-building measures. Instead, Azeri President Ilham
Aliyev publicly stated earlier this month that "the war has not ended."

"Furthermore, Mr. Mammadyarov asserts that "regional integration is
a priority for Azerbaijan." In reality, Baku persists in its policy
to isolate Armenia – from its continuing blockade in coordination
with Turkey to a pipeline that circumvents Armenia.

Rather than torpedo the recently intensified efforts by the mediators
to reach a settlement, Azerbaijan should take these talks seriously,
end the blockade, cease its bellicose statements and agree to
confidence-building measures and direct contact with Nagorno Karabakh,"
Bryan Ardouny, Executive Director of the Armenian Assembly of America
writes in his letter.