WASHINGTON WELCOMES COMMITMENTS OF PRESIDENTS OF ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN TO REINVIGORATE PEACEFUL PROCESS: AMERICAN DIPLOMAT
Trend News Agency
July 16 2008
Azerbaijan
Washington welcomes the commitments of Presidents of Armenia, Serj
Sargsyan and Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, to reinvigorate the Minsk
Group process on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
"The USA welcomes the commitments of Presidents Sargsyan and Aliyev to
reinvigorate the Minsk Group process," U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary
of State, Matthew Bryza, told TrendNews on 15 July.
Bryza, who is Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group on Armenian-Azerbaijani
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said that he intends to meet with Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian in Washington and discuss the
condition of talks.
In addition, the Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group intend to meet
with the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov, in the
near weeks.
"I hope to elicit the Minister’s views on the few elements of the
Basic Principles that remain unresolved, as Presidents Aliyev and
Sargsyan asked the Co-Chairs to do during their June 6 meeting in
St. Petersburg," Bryza said.
The diplomat said that the Minister had a productive meeting on 14 July
with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, during which the Secretary
expressed her readiness to support the efforts of the Co-Chairs to
help Armenia and Azerbaijan bridge their remaining differences with
regard to the Basic Principles as outlined in the Madrid Document.
In November last year, the Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group presented
the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan their new proposals
on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries appeared in 1988
due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenia has
occupied 20% of the Azerbaijani lands including the Nagorno-Karabakh
region and its seven surrounding districts. Since 1992 to the present
time, these territories have been under Armenian occupation. In 1994,
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a cease-fire agreement at which time
the active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group
( Russia, France and USA) are holding peaceful negotiations.
The first meeting between Ilham Aliyev and Serj Sargsyan (as President
of Armenia) took place on 6 June in St. Petersburg within unofficial
CIS summit.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
