US EMBASSY IN AZERBAIJAN DISMISSES RUMOURS OF KARABAKH ULTIMATUM
news.az
Nov 5 2009
Azerbaijan
Terry R. Davidson The USA has not changed its position on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Terry Davidson, public affairs officer at
the US embassy in Baku, has said.
He was commenting to 1news.az on a report published in Azerbaijan’s
Yeni Musavat newspaper that the USA would recognize Karabakh as
independent if Azerbaijan were to begin military operations in
the region.
"The USA has not changed its position on Nagorno-Karabakh," Terry
Davidson set. "We are for a peaceful settlement of the conflict in line
with the principles of international law, including respect for the
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan," Davidson told a press conference.
Davidson told Yeni Musavat newspaper: "The information that you
published on 2 November, quoting an assistant to Tina Kaidanow, US
deputy assistant secretary of state on European and Eurasian affairs,
is a fabrication. She did not say anything of the kind."
The deputy assistant secretary of state told Azerbaijan’s ANS TV
channel that the United States supports the peaceful settlement of
the Karabakh conflict.
In her interview, Kaidanow said: "First of all, I would like to note
that the United States support resolution of conflicts in peaceful
and just ways. US President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton have
both made an open statement on this and both undertook a commitment
in connection with the resolution of the Karabakh conflict within the
framework of the Minsk Group. We have recently appointed one of our
best diplomats, Robert Bradtke, as the co-chair of the Minsk Group
and I hope we will continue this important and dynamic process in
the coming weeks and months."