A Slip of Tongue or Slap on the Face: Is Karabakh a Negotiating Party?
16:44 – 17.04.10
United States seems to be tightening the screws with Azerbaijan with
US Assistant Secretary of State Philip J. Crowley referring to Nagorno
Karabakh as a negotiating party while speaking about Armenia-Turkey
normalization in a recent briefing.
"And clearly, we’re also supporting the Minsk process regarding
Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh," said Crowley.
It follows statements by Azerbaijani leaders criticizing US and
accusing it of partiality as a co-mediator country over the Nagorno
Karabakh issue.
"The United States does not implement policy towards Azerbaijan as a
strategic partner, and that’s why we might reconsider our policy
towards the United States," Ali Hasanov, Aliyev’s head of
public-political issues, said in an interview with Reuters news
agency.
"We believe the Americans should not only think of how to help Armenia
overcome the economic crisis," he said, but as a co-mediator in talks
on Nagorno-Karabakh, Washington "should first of all promote a
solution to the Karabakh conflict."
The US response was quick enough with Press Secretary of the US
Embassy in Baku, Terry Davidson saying that the United States "has
always been pursuing a balanced policy when it comes to the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue."
Later on President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev accused the OSCE Minsk
Group of not being aware of what exactly is happening in the region,
advising all the parties concerned to try to study the conflict
thoroughly by reading books about the situation.
"The co-mediator states should be very attentive. May be people are
not well aware of the situation in the region and should try to study
it. If this is the case, I do not want to accuse anyone, let them
study the situation so that to draw correct conclusions. But we do see
that today, at this definitive moment, Armenia is getting such a
strong political support that it may completely withdraw from the
negotiations in the future," said Aliyev.
Tert.am