FM: MINSK GROUP MAKING NO PROGRESS

Hurriyet
May 26 2009
Turkey

ANKARA – The Minsk Group of the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe has failed to make progress on the
Nagorno-Karabakh dispute, said the foreign minister over the weekend.

Ahmet Davutoglu, who flew to Azerbaijan yesterday for talks on the
latest Nagorno-Karabakh developments as well as the Turkish-Armenian
rapprochement, after attending the Organization of the Islamic
Conference meeting in Syria.

In comments on Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s criticism of
the Minsk Group, Davutoglu said: "It is impossible not to agree with
Aliyev’s statements on the performance of the Minsk Group. No progress
has been made as proved by the past record."

He highlighted that the dispute must no longer be a frozen conflict,
making assurances that Turkey would help exert efforts for a solution.

The Minsk Group was set up in 1992 and is co-chaired by Russia,
the United States and France.

Ankara cut diplomatic links with Yerevan and closed the border in
a show of support to Azerbaijan in 1993 after 20 percent of its
territory was invaded by Armenia in the disputed region – a frozen
conflict legacy of the Soviet Union known as Nagorno-Karabakh. Earlier
this month, Armenian President Serge Sargsyan and Aliyev held their
fourth meeting aimed at resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
under supervision from the Minsk Group of international mediators.

Davutoglu also said Sunday that Aliyev and Sargsyan would meet on
numerous occasions in the coming period and expressed his wish that
those meetings would bring a solution

Speaking to Anatolia news agency, the foreign minister criticized the
recent statements made by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
who said Jerusalem is Israel’s capital. "The United Nations and
international principles on Jerusalem are clear. The Jerusalem’s
status and character remaining unchanged is a principle adopted not
only by the OIC but also by the UN," he said.
From: Baghdasarian