Warlick sees Sargsyan-Aliev-Kerry meeting productive
05.09.2014,
12:23
The American co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick is satisfied with the meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliev and the US Secretary of State John Kerry.
YEREVAN, September 5. /ARKA/. The American co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick is satisfied with the meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliev and the US Secretary of State John Kerry.
"In Wales John Kerry hosted productive talks between the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia on Nagorno-Karabakh. We are ready to help," Warlick tweeted.
The parties had a trilateral meeting initiated by the American side, in the framework of the NATO summit in Newport.
The discussion of the Karabakh conflict in a trilateral format has become a common practice over the years. Such meetings are usually initiated by the Russian president. The most recent meeting between presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia was held in Sochi on August 10 and reduced the tense on the Armenia-Azerbaijan contact line.
Another tripartite meeting is planned for the near future, this time with the president of France Francois Hollande as the third party.
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 thousand 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—
