Nagorno-Karabakh conflict no longer frozen – Department of State
The US Department of State has published the transcript of two senior officials’ briefing addressing the recent developments over Nagorno-Karabakh and the May 16 Vienna talks between the Armenian and Azerbaijani president.
None of the two are named in the official statement published on the Department’s website. Instead, they are referred to as senior State Department official one, and senior State Department official two.
Addressing the heavy fighting that erupted along the Line of Contact early in April, the former expressed a firm belief that the long-lasting conflict is no longer frozen.
“The conflict ran from ’92 to ’94 over the future of this small piece of land called Nagorno-Karabakh. Since ’94 there has been a ceasefire in place. Some call it a frozen conflict but it’s far from frozen. There have been, over the past 20 years, repeated incidents along the so-called line of contact and along the international border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. There are literally dozens of casualties each year, and as you may know, fighting flared up dramatically in early April, April 2 to April 5 – so-called 4-day war – with hundreds of casualties – an estimated 350 casualties including civilians,” s/he said.
The same official admitted that the Azerbaijanis have, over the period, opted for basically a military settlement of the conflict, being the only conflicting side rejecting monitoring the proposed mechanisms and other confidence building measures.
“They have been opposed to additional monitors. They opposed any confidence-building measures that they believe perpetuates the status quo. That said, we want to take up these confidence-building and humanitarian measures tonight and see if Azerbaijan can agree to some of them,” s/he added.
Commenting on the recent escalations, State Department official two later addressed Azerbaijan’s concerns over foreign fighters and the United States’ partnership with that country.
“Azerbaijan worries about foreign fighters and worries about flows back and forth. They’ve been quite tough and rigorous internally. As you know, we’ve had a long relationship with Azerbaijan watching illicit materials, fissile materials, et cetera. They’ve been a very, very good partner, as has Georgia on those kinds of issues. So there are lots of things here. It’s also, obviously, an economic sink for both countries as they have to maintain militaries, et cetera, at a time when both countries need economic growth. Azerbaijan, one of those countries, suffering quite a bit as a result of low oil prices, looking to diversify its economy. So we want to see them buy less weapons and do more to develop their trade relations in the region,” s/he said.
“This would be a win-win for both sides. Azerbaijan’s overwhelming objective is to get control of the land surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, and that’s very possible as part of a comprehensive settlement. For Armenia, the issue is status. And they can get this status also as a part of a comprehensive settlement. So it’s possible, if the presidents have the will to walk out and to tell their people that they have – they have won what has been lost over the last 20 years,” senior State Department official one replied.
The full transcript of the conversation is available here
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