Interfax, Russia
June 9 2009
Karabakh settlement should be based on self-determination right,
territorial integrity, non-use of force – U.S. diplomat
YEREVAN June 9
The conflict between Baku and Yerevan has to be solved based on the
principles of nations’ right to self-determination, territorial
integrity, and non-use of force, said U.S. Assistant Secretary of
State for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Gordon.
A solution to the conflict must reflect all these three fundamental
principles, each of them is important, Gordon said at a press
conference in Yerevan on Tuesday.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement solution should also include
some voting mechanism, like a referendum, he said.
As regards the settlement of Armenian-Turkish relations, Gordon said
they should be normalized without preconditions and within a
reasonable period of time.
The normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations is a separate process
that has no relation to any other processes, Gordon said. The
settlement of these relations will benefit all the parties involved
and the region on the whole, Gordon said. This process cannot last
endlessly, and the parties are perfectly aware of this, he said.
Baku lost control of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts in
a bloody conflict in the 1990s over Karabakh’s territorial status,
which turned millions of Azeris into refugees and displaced
persons. The UN Security Council condemned the occupation of
Azerbaijan’s territory and demanded the Armenian armed forces’
withdrawal.
Talks on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem are underway
with international mediation. The Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe’s Minsk Group, representing the United States,
Russia and France, are brokering the settlement.