Karabagh News
Official Reports More Fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh
AP
BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) - More than 20 Azerbaijani and Armenian soldiers have been killed in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh since July, an Azerbaijan government official said Thursday. Armenia disputed the claim.
Eldar Sabirogly, a spokesman for the Azerbaijan defense ministry, said at least 15 Armenian soldiers died during that period. He said the number of Azerbaijani soldiers was about half that number.
However, officials with Armenia's defense ministry said that Armenia had lost no soldiers during that period.
Officials in Nagorno-Karabakh, which lies within Azerbaijan, also said their forces had seen no losses.
Both sides routinely accuse the other of breaking a cease-fire and try to highlight one another's military losses.
Armenian and ethnic Armenian forces drove Azerbaijan out of Nagorno-Karabakh in one of the bloodiest conflicts of the post-Soviet era. Some 30,000 people were killed and about 1 million were driven from their homes before the cease-fire was reached in 1994.
The lack of resolution on the region's status has held up development in the strategic South Caucasus region and raised fears of a new war between the two countries.
Mediators in Fresh Push for Karabakh Settlement
By Ruben Meloyan
A French diplomat hopes Armenia and Azerbaijan will move closer to finding a solution to their long-running dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of international negotiators' efforts to set up a meeting of their foreign ministers in New York later this month.
Bernard Fassier shared this optimism at a press conference in Yerevan Wednesday night summing up his meetings with Armenian and Karabakh leadership.
`After the meeting of the two foreign ministers and after the presidential election in Azerbaijan in October, we should also think about organizing a meeting between the two countries' presidents,' said the French cochairman of the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Fassier also said that the meeting of the foreign ministers might be held on the sidelines of the upcoming session of the United Nations General Assembly.
The OSCE Minsk Group was set up in the early 1990s to encourage a peaceful, negotiated resolution to the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic-Armenian enclave that declared its independence from Baku following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Besides France, the Group is also co-chaired by the United States and Russia.
During the press conference in the Armenian capital, the French cochairman of the Group brushed aside speculations that Turkish efforts to assist in settling Armenian-Azerbaijani relations could torpedo the Minsk Group format.
`Since Turkey is also a member of the OSCE Minsk Group, its efforts directed at providing assistance to the settlement of the Karabakh conflict do not imply a change in the format of negotiations,' he said.
`Turkey is one of the 12 states that are members of the OSCE Minsk Group. We report on our progress several times a year to the whole body of members and during the three and a half years that I have been cochairman, Turkey has always shown a constructive approach, supporting the activities of the three co-chairs of the Minsk Group.'
The French diplomat also said that while the Minsk Group remains the format of the peace process, `any proposal made to support the negotiations, in particular from Turkey, is desirable and welcome.'
`All of our three states are glad to see that the relations between Armenia and Turkey seem to be entering a stage of normalization,' Fassier added.
The French envoy was scheduled to meet with his American counterpart Matthew Bryza in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku Thursday evening and then continue negotiations with Azerbaijani leadership on Friday.
Meanwhile, the U.S. co-chair has been holding meetings in Baku to discuss a similar set of questions with Azerbaijani leaders. He reportedly, too, defended the Minsk Group's further activities `despite problems in relations with Russia.'
`Some problems in relations with Russia are observed now, but I think that these problems will be removed after Moscow starts to fulfill the agreement it signed with the president of Georgia,' said Bryza, according to Azerbaijan's APA news agency.
`Our friends from Ankara said they wanted to give help in the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group. Turkey may have its contribution to this process and help Armenia come up with a more flexible position.'
Armenian Opposition Worried About Minsk Group's Future
By Anush Martirosian
A spokesman for the opposition leader has accused Armenia's leadership of taking action contradicting its own official statements that oppose any change in the current format of the Nagorno-Karabakh talks.
Arman Musinian on Thursday echoed the concerns expressed by Armenia's first president Levon Ter-Petrosian at a recent opposition rally that Turkey is seeking to supplant the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, an international format of the
United States, France and Russia advancing a negotiated settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
In particular, Musinian thinks that the high-level meeting between Armenian and Azerbaijani officials to be held in New York upon the initiative of the Turkish foreign minister suggests that with their actions the Armenian authorities call into question their own declared position favoring a continued Minsk Group process.
`It is a fact that a trilateral meeting will be held in New York in the upcoming weeks, there is even information that they can ink some initial non-biding documents, which shows that Turkey has taken an active role in the negotiations over the Karabakh settlement,' Musinian said.
While in the Azerbaijani capital Baku only days after visiting Armenia, Turkish President Abdullah Gul stated that Armenia's authorities had committed themselves to returning the Azerbaijani lands surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh that are currently controlled by ethnic Armenian forces.
Musinian also criticized the Armenian leadership for failing to respond to this statement.
`There has been no official response, just like there is no response to the disgraceful idea of setting up an Armenian-Turkish panel of historians (to review the 1915 events),' Musinian said.
`President Serzh Sarkisian agrees to deals with the international community at the expense of Armenia's interests thus trying to preserve his power.'
By Ruben Meloyan
A French diplomat hopes Armenia and Azerbaijan will move closer to finding a solution to their long-running dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of international negotiators' efforts to set up a meeting of their foreign ministers in New York later this month.
Bernard Fassier shared this optimism at a press conference in Yerevan Wednesday night summing up his meetings with Armenian and Karabakh leadership.
`After the meeting of the two foreign ministers and after the presidential election in Azerbaijan in October, we should also think about organizing a meeting between the two countries' presidents,' said the French cochairman of the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Fassier also said that the meeting of the foreign ministers might be held on the sidelines of the upcoming session of the United Nations General Assembly.
The OSCE Minsk Group was set up in the early 1990s to encourage a peaceful, negotiated resolution to the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic-Armenian enclave that declared its independence from Baku following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Besides France, the Group is also co-chaired by the United States and Russia.
During the press conference in the Armenian capital, the French cochairman of the Group brushed aside speculations that Turkish efforts to assist in settling Armenian-Azerbaijani relations could torpedo the Minsk Group format.
`Since Turkey is also a member of the OSCE Minsk Group, its efforts directed at providing assistance to the settlement of the Karabakh conflict do not imply a change in the format of negotiations,' he said.
`Turkey is one of the 12 states that are members of the OSCE Minsk Group. We report on our progress several times a year to the whole body of members and during the three and a half years that I have been cochairman, Turkey has always shown a constructive approach, supporting the activities of the three co-chairs of the Minsk Group.'
The French diplomat also said that while the Minsk Group remains the format of the peace process, `any proposal made to support the negotiations, in particular from Turkey, is desirable and welcome.'
`All of our three states are glad to see that the relations between Armenia and Turkey seem to be entering a stage of normalization,' Fassier added.
The French envoy was scheduled to meet with his American counterpart Matthew Bryza in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku Thursday evening and then continue negotiations with Azerbaijani leadership on Friday.
Meanwhile, the U.S. co-chair has been holding meetings in Baku to discuss a similar set of questions with Azerbaijani leaders. He reportedly, too, defended the Minsk Group's further activities `despite problems in relations with Russia.'
`Some problems in relations with Russia are observed now, but I think that these problems will be removed after Moscow starts to fulfill the agreement it signed with the president of Georgia,' said Bryza, according to Azerbaijan's APA news agency.
`Our friends from Ankara said they wanted to give help in the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group. Turkey may have its contribution to this process and help Armenia come up with a more flexible position.'
Armenian Opposition Worried About Minsk Group's Future
By Anush Martirosian
A spokesman for the opposition leader has accused Armenia's leadership of taking action contradicting its own official statements that oppose any change in the current format of the Nagorno-Karabakh talks.
Arman Musinian on Thursday echoed the concerns expressed by Armenia's first president Levon Ter-Petrosian at a recent opposition rally that Turkey is seeking to supplant the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, an international format of the
United States, France and Russia advancing a negotiated settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
In particular, Musinian thinks that the high-level meeting between Armenian and Azerbaijani officials to be held in New York upon the initiative of the Turkish foreign minister suggests that with their actions the Armenian authorities call into question their own declared position favoring a continued Minsk Group process.
`It is a fact that a trilateral meeting will be held in New York in the upcoming weeks, there is even information that they can ink some initial non-biding documents, which shows that Turkey has taken an active role in the negotiations over the Karabakh settlement,' Musinian said.
While in the Azerbaijani capital Baku only days after visiting Armenia, Turkish President Abdullah Gul stated that Armenia's authorities had committed themselves to returning the Azerbaijani lands surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh that are currently controlled by ethnic Armenian forces.
Musinian also criticized the Armenian leadership for failing to respond to this statement.
`There has been no official response, just like there is no response to the disgraceful idea of setting up an Armenian-Turkish panel of historians (to review the 1915 events),' Musinian said.
`President Serzh Sarkisian agrees to deals with the international community at the expense of Armenia's interests thus trying to preserve his power.'
KARABAKH PRESIDENT RECEIVES OSCE MINSK GROUP FRENCH CO-CHAIRMAN
ARMENPRESS
Sep 17, 2008
STEPANAKERT, SEPTEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS: Karabakh President Bako Sahakian received September 16 OSCE Minsk Group French co-chairman Bernard Fassier.
Karabakh presidential press service told Armenpress that during the meeting the sides discussed a wide-range of issues on Karabakh conflict regulation and situation created in the region.
Bako Sahakian underscored the role of Europe and particularly France in establishing peace and stability in the region. The president once again pointed out the necessity of maintaining the format of the OSCE Minsk Group at the same time adding that it is necessary to restore Karabakh's status as full participant in the negotiation process.
At the meeting present was Karabakh foreign minister Georgi Petrosian.
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ARMENPRESS
Sep 17, 2008
STEPANAKERT, SEPTEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS: Karabakh President Bako Sahakian received September 16 OSCE Minsk Group French co-chairman Bernard Fassier.
Karabakh presidential press service told Armenpress that during the meeting the sides discussed a wide-range of issues on Karabakh conflict regulation and situation created in the region.
Bako Sahakian underscored the role of Europe and particularly France in establishing peace and stability in the region. The president once again pointed out the necessity of maintaining the format of the OSCE Minsk Group at the same time adding that it is necessary to restore Karabakh's status as full participant in the negotiation process.
At the meeting present was Karabakh foreign minister Georgi Petrosian.
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