U.S. AMBASSADOR: THERE IS A LINK BETWEEN THE CYPRUS PROBLEM AND NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT
APA
30 Jul 2009 10:42
Washington. Zaur Hasanov – APA. U.S. ambassador to Cyprus Franc
Urbancic answered the questions in Woodrow Wilson Center about the
present stage of the Cyprus conflict.
Asked by APA’s Washington correspondent about the influence of the
Cyprus peace negotiations on Nagorno Karabakh, Urbancic said there
is a link between these conflicts.
"Every single one of these conflicts if it is resolved it is a
confident building measure of its own. Let start with Cyprus. Let
start with Cyprus and Nagorno-Karabakh can be put as a next step.
Another question may be, will be Georgia. Yes, the link is there.
Right now, the trust which exists in the region is very low. Let try
to increase this trust," he said.
Touching on Turkey’s relations with Armenia Frank Urbancic said:
"Cyprus has natural affinity to Armenia. The president of Cyprus
has natural affinity to the leadership of Armenia. Turkey has a
traditional role in the Middle East. Turkey has borders with some of
the most important countries in the entire region. Turkey’s role as
a regional influence is not going to diminish. We think that Turkey
can and we hope will, and we think is playing positive role in the
resolution of Armenian problem. It is critical and very important.
Turks recognize it too. That’s why we see them paying so much attention
to it."
Frank Urbancic was appointed ambassador to Cyprus in September, 2008.
Earlier, Urbancic had been Consul General to Istanbul, hold various
posts in the U.S. diplomatic missions in about ten countries.