Armenia and USA support only peaceful settlement of Karabakh conflict: Armenian FM
05.06.2013,
12:39
Armenia and the United States advocate solely peaceful settlement to Karabakh conflict, Armenian foreign minister Edward Nalbandyan said at his meeting with the US Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington.
YEREVAN, June 5. /ARKA/. Armenia and the United States advocate solely peaceful settlement to Karabakh conflict, Armenian foreign minister Edward Nalbandyan said at his meeting with the US Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington.
Armenia and the US also share the vision that Armenia-Turkey relations should be settled without preconditions, Nalbandyan said.
John Kerry, in his turn, confirmed the US full support for settling relations between the two countries.
Kerry said as OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing country the US will continue its efforts for peaceful settlement of the conflict. This, in turn, will create opportunities for development, stability and security in the South Caucasus region, the US Secretary of State said.
The Karabakh conflict started in 1988 when prevailingly Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh declared withdrawal from Azerbaijan. On December 10, 1991, a referendum was held in Nagorno-Karabakh where 99.89% voted for independence from Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan responded by large-scale military operations that led to loss of control not only over Nagorno-Karabakh itself, but also over seven adjoining areas. About 25-30 thousands people were killed and about a million had to leave their homes during the military operations.
A trilateral cease-fire agreement was signed on May 12, 2004, and has been followed since then.
The ongoing Karabakh peace process started in 1992 under auspices of OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the USA, Russia and France. -0-
