ARMENIAN, AZERI FAITH LEADERS MAKE KARABAKH PLEDGE
By Afet Mehtiyeva

Reuters
April 26 2010
UK

BAKU, April 26 (Reuters) – The head of the Armenian church and the
senior Muslim cleric in Azerbaijan pledged on Monday to help to
resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, with talks between Yerevan
and Baku on the enclave deadlocked.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, ethnic Armenians in
Nagorno-Karabakh, backed by Christian Armenia, threw off Azeri rule in
a war that killed 30,000 people before a ceasefire in 1994. A peace
deal has never been reached, and Azerbaijan frequently threatens to
take the region back by force.

Karekin II, the Catholicos (chief bishop) of All Armenians, joined
in making the pledge during a trip to Baku.

It marked the first visit by the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church
to Muslim Azerbaijan since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and
fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh escalated towards all-out war.

Karekin II met Allahshukur Pashazade, who heads the Muslim Board
of the Caucasus, for talks in Baku which Russian Orthodox Patriarch
Kirill also attended.

After the talks, they issued a joint statement promising support for
a 15-year-old mediation process between the leaders of Azerbaijan
and Armenia that has yet to produce a deal.

"… we intend to contribute to their aspirations and believe it
important to continue the dialogue between religious leaders to help
resolve the conflict", they said.

Patriarch Kirill said he hoped the meeting would "help ease tensions,
and create the conditions for political leaders to take responsibility
and come to an agreement".

Tensions have risen since Armenia and Azerbaijan’s ally Turkey
announced a deal last year to mend ties and open their common border,
which Ankara closed in solidarity with Azerbaijan during the war. That
deal has now been suspended.

Azerbaijan sees the deal as a betrayal of its efforts to win back
territory seized by ethnic Armenian forces during the war.

Armenia suspended ratification of the accord last week over Turkish
demands that it reach terms with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh,
but some analysts say the collapse has come too late to soothe Azeri
suspicions. (Writing by Matt Robinson in Tbilisi; Editing by David
Stamp).