President: Garabagh settlement efforts dwell on historical justice
President Ilham Aliyev has said Azerbaijan`s efforts
to resolve the conflict with Armenia are constructive and are based
upon international law and historical justice.
Addressing a Friday news conference following talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during a visit to Moscow, Aliyev thanked President Medvedev for Russia`s efforts in narrowing the differences of the conflicting sides in the settlement of the Upper Garabagh dispute.
"Certainly, the lack of a final result disappoints us. However, we cannot turn a blind eye to the advances achieved in talks on settling the problem. These advances increase our hopes for a peaceful solution of the conflict. Rapprochement in the positions of the parties over the recent period and agreeing of the issues that earlier appeared as being complicated have created good basic principles for the continuation of talks," President Aliyev said.
Aliyev voiced hope that the process of settling the conflict would move forward in the coming months and that an agreement reflecting the interests of both sides would be reached, in particular, within the framework of ensuring Azerbaijan`s territorial integrity.
"Only after that will it be possible to talk about broad cooperation in the South Caucasus," the president added.
Medvedev said the Garabagh conflict must be settled while strictly meeting the interests of the Azerbaijani and Armenian people. He did not rule out that new ideas might be expressed regarding peace talks.
As a co-chair of the mediating OSCE Minsk Group, Russia is actively involved in talks on resolving the long-lasting dispute. President Medvedev joined the process by inviting his Azerbaijani and Armenian counterparts for talks in Moscow in November 2008.
Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian is due to hold talks during his visit to Moscow on April 23 regarding a trilateral summit on the Garabagh conflict being hosted by Russia, the Regnum news agency reported.
Another source, Russia`s influential Kommersant newspaper, said such a meeting is scheduled on the sidelines of an economic forum and will be joined by the Azerbaijani president in St. Petersburg this June. This, too, would take place due to the mediation of President Medvedev.
Of note, President Aliyev paid his visit to Moscow hot on the heals of his refusal to head to Istanbul where he could have met not only with Turkish officials, but also with newly-elected US President Barack Obama.
On the eve of Aliyev`s visit to the Russian capital, Mathew Bryza, the US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group brokering Garabagh peace talks, arrived in Baku and held meetings with nearly all top officials - from the head of state to the National Security Minister. News agencies report that the US mediator`s meeting with the security chief took place following Bryza`s personal initiative.
During the meeting with President Aliyev, the sides discussed the current state of a Garabagh settlement as well as the forthcoming meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders.
Bryza told reporters that "talks in Baku proceeded very critically and seriously but not enough to be negative."
The US diplomat said both presidents were studying each other`s positions as well as those "painful concessions" that they would have to accept.
"I hope that in the coming months - maybe, in May or June - we will be able to achieve a breakthrough in the negotiating process on the Garabagh conflict settlement. The nature of the talks suggests that this breakthrough will be a real one," he told Voice of America on a visit to Baku on Thursday, but added that much remained to be done to make this happen.
"We will do everything we can to foster an agreement between the two presidents," he said.
The US, Russian and French co-chairs of the Minsk Group are due to pay their next joint visit to the region this week.
Touching on the new White House administration`s policy on the South Caucasus, Bryza noted that it essentially remains unchanged. "However, there is some activity and strengthening of contacts," he said, apparently referring to the visits to Turkey by President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The Minsk Group`s efforts have been intensified as well.
Bryza emphasized that the improvement of Washington-Moscow relations would neither contradict the interests of Russia`s neighbors nor result in Moscow`s domination in energy supplies. As for Obama`s policy on the South Caucasus region, officials said his administration attaches great importance to these countries and intends to maintain constructive relations with their leaders.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said after meeting the US MG co-chair that new positions have recently emerged in the peace process and that they were discussed. Asked to elaborate, the minister referred to the issue of opening the Turkey-Armenia border.
"Opening the border without the liberation of the occupied territories (Azerbaijan`s land under Armenian occupation) contradicts Azerbaijan`s position," he said.
At the same time, Mammadyarov said the Azerbaijani leader`s visit to Russia could not be interpreted as "a gesture of protest against Turkey."
Thus, the US co-chair has made it clear that Washington has no intention to hand over its allies in the South Caucasus to the Kremlin and would not allow Russia to dominate in energy supplies to world markets, even for the sake of improving its relations with Moscow.
Another important statement was the message that the U.S. is trying to coordinate the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations with the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. Bryza`s statement that drastic advances could take place in the Garabagh settlement in the coming months could not be interpreted any differently, analysts noted.
The Garabagh conflict reared up in the late 1980s due to Armenia`s territorial claims. Armenia has been occupying over 20% of Azerbaijan`s internationally-recognized territory since the early 1990s in defiance of international law. The ceasefire accord was signed in May 1994, but over a decade of efforts by US, Russian and French mediators have yielded no results so far, and Armenia frequently violates the ceasefire.
Addressing a Friday news conference following talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during a visit to Moscow, Aliyev thanked President Medvedev for Russia`s efforts in narrowing the differences of the conflicting sides in the settlement of the Upper Garabagh dispute.
"Certainly, the lack of a final result disappoints us. However, we cannot turn a blind eye to the advances achieved in talks on settling the problem. These advances increase our hopes for a peaceful solution of the conflict. Rapprochement in the positions of the parties over the recent period and agreeing of the issues that earlier appeared as being complicated have created good basic principles for the continuation of talks," President Aliyev said.
Aliyev voiced hope that the process of settling the conflict would move forward in the coming months and that an agreement reflecting the interests of both sides would be reached, in particular, within the framework of ensuring Azerbaijan`s territorial integrity.
"Only after that will it be possible to talk about broad cooperation in the South Caucasus," the president added.
Medvedev said the Garabagh conflict must be settled while strictly meeting the interests of the Azerbaijani and Armenian people. He did not rule out that new ideas might be expressed regarding peace talks.
As a co-chair of the mediating OSCE Minsk Group, Russia is actively involved in talks on resolving the long-lasting dispute. President Medvedev joined the process by inviting his Azerbaijani and Armenian counterparts for talks in Moscow in November 2008.
Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian is due to hold talks during his visit to Moscow on April 23 regarding a trilateral summit on the Garabagh conflict being hosted by Russia, the Regnum news agency reported.
Another source, Russia`s influential Kommersant newspaper, said such a meeting is scheduled on the sidelines of an economic forum and will be joined by the Azerbaijani president in St. Petersburg this June. This, too, would take place due to the mediation of President Medvedev.
Of note, President Aliyev paid his visit to Moscow hot on the heals of his refusal to head to Istanbul where he could have met not only with Turkish officials, but also with newly-elected US President Barack Obama.
On the eve of Aliyev`s visit to the Russian capital, Mathew Bryza, the US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group brokering Garabagh peace talks, arrived in Baku and held meetings with nearly all top officials - from the head of state to the National Security Minister. News agencies report that the US mediator`s meeting with the security chief took place following Bryza`s personal initiative.
During the meeting with President Aliyev, the sides discussed the current state of a Garabagh settlement as well as the forthcoming meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders.
Bryza told reporters that "talks in Baku proceeded very critically and seriously but not enough to be negative."
The US diplomat said both presidents were studying each other`s positions as well as those "painful concessions" that they would have to accept.
"I hope that in the coming months - maybe, in May or June - we will be able to achieve a breakthrough in the negotiating process on the Garabagh conflict settlement. The nature of the talks suggests that this breakthrough will be a real one," he told Voice of America on a visit to Baku on Thursday, but added that much remained to be done to make this happen.
"We will do everything we can to foster an agreement between the two presidents," he said.
The US, Russian and French co-chairs of the Minsk Group are due to pay their next joint visit to the region this week.
Touching on the new White House administration`s policy on the South Caucasus, Bryza noted that it essentially remains unchanged. "However, there is some activity and strengthening of contacts," he said, apparently referring to the visits to Turkey by President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The Minsk Group`s efforts have been intensified as well.
Bryza emphasized that the improvement of Washington-Moscow relations would neither contradict the interests of Russia`s neighbors nor result in Moscow`s domination in energy supplies. As for Obama`s policy on the South Caucasus region, officials said his administration attaches great importance to these countries and intends to maintain constructive relations with their leaders.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said after meeting the US MG co-chair that new positions have recently emerged in the peace process and that they were discussed. Asked to elaborate, the minister referred to the issue of opening the Turkey-Armenia border.
"Opening the border without the liberation of the occupied territories (Azerbaijan`s land under Armenian occupation) contradicts Azerbaijan`s position," he said.
At the same time, Mammadyarov said the Azerbaijani leader`s visit to Russia could not be interpreted as "a gesture of protest against Turkey."
Thus, the US co-chair has made it clear that Washington has no intention to hand over its allies in the South Caucasus to the Kremlin and would not allow Russia to dominate in energy supplies to world markets, even for the sake of improving its relations with Moscow.
Another important statement was the message that the U.S. is trying to coordinate the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations with the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. Bryza`s statement that drastic advances could take place in the Garabagh settlement in the coming months could not be interpreted any differently, analysts noted.
The Garabagh conflict reared up in the late 1980s due to Armenia`s territorial claims. Armenia has been occupying over 20% of Azerbaijan`s internationally-recognized territory since the early 1990s in defiance of international law. The ceasefire accord was signed in May 1994, but over a decade of efforts by US, Russian and French mediators have yielded no results so far, and Armenia frequently violates the ceasefire.
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