WASHINGTON BRIEFING : U.S. SEES "CLEAR OUTLINE" FOR KARABAKH PEACE, "TANGIBLE RESULTS" IN WEEKS
by Emil Sanamyan

9-22-u-s–sees–clear-outline–for-karabakh-peace- -tangible-results–in-weeks
September 22, 2009

Washington – "We hope that the recent progress made in talks between
Presidents Aliyev and Sargsian will lead to tangible results when
they meet next month," U.S. Undersecretary of State Bill Burns said
in prepared remarks delivered on September 18 at an event co-sponsored
by Georgetown University and the Azerbaijani Embassy in Washington.

President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and his Armenian counterpart Serge
Sargsian are expected to attend the next Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS) summit in Moldova on October 8-9.

The State Department’s most senior diplomat went on to note,
"The outline of a possible settlement has been clear for some time,
though as with all things, the devil lies in the details and further
discussions will be needed to satisfy the concerns of both sides."

Mr. Burns’ remarks appeared to be carefully calibrated and did not
include any reference to U.S. recognition of Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity. Starting in August 2008, former U.S. negotiator for Karabakh
Matt Bryza used language that emphasized Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity as the starting point of a settlement.

Writing earlier this year, a former official at the State and Defense
Departments, Wayne Merry, also suggested, "the outlines of a settlement
have been clear for fifteen years"; he at the same time offered a
more concrete formula for resolution that would "reflect both the
realities of war and the needs of peace."

"These realities transcend the standard rhetoric of ‘sovereignty
and territorial integrity’ as well as that of ‘national
self-determination,’" Mr. Merry argued in his paper "Karabakh: Is
war inevitable?"

"In a settlement, Armenia will get Karabakh and a land corridor
to Armenia, while Azerbaijan gets back the lowland surrounding
territories. This is not about justice, nor right and wrong, but is
the inescapable and necessary formula for peace."

"To be sure, there are a multitude of details (where the devil always
lurks) and implementation problems (where the costs for outside powers
will be substantial)," Mr. Merry concluded.