Azerbaijan Business Center
Nov 21 2009

Jamestown Foundation: by April US to make moves to meet Armenia halfway

Baku, Fineko/abc.az. International conference `Impediments to Security
in the South Caucasus: Current Realities and Future Prospects for
Regional Development’ organized in Baku yesterday by the Centre for
Strategic Studies (SAM) under the President of the Republic of
Azerbaijan and International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS)
showed that US analysts consider their country’s policy in the region
inefficient.

Addressing to the conference Jamestown Foundation’s senior fellow
Vladimir Socor said that conflict in the region will have no result if
the US does not play more active role.

`At the same time the US has unprejudiced interest in partnership
between Turkey and Azerbaijan and their bilateral co-operation,’ Mr.
Socor said.

However, these interests are threatened because of US Administration’s
current position.

`Barak Obama made a mistake in the course of election campaign by
promising to recognize genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.
After he became the US president he failed to do that not to spoil
relationships with Turkey. But Obama seeks opportunities to make moves
to meet Armenia halfway and these moves can be expected by April,’ Mr.
Socor said.

This April Armenia is to mark the next anniversary of this genocide.

At the same time Mr. Socor does not consider a mistake the protocols
on normalization of ties between Turkey and Armenia thinking that
processes of normalization of Turkish-Armenian links and settlement of
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict should be carried out in parallel and
complement each other.