AZERBAIJAN: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offers help to solve Nagorno-Karabakh dispute

Record ID: 218085

  • Title: AZERBAIJAN: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offers help to solve Nagorno-Karabakh dispute
  • Date: 5th July 2010
  • Summary: BAKU, AZERBAIJAN (JULY 4, 2010) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) (*** FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ***) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON AND AZERI FOREIGN MINISTER ELMAR MAMEDYAROV AT JOINT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON, SAYING: "The final steps towards peace are often the most difficult but we believe peace is possible and necessar
  • Embargoed: 20th July 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Azerbaijan
  • Country: Azerbaijan
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVADDG41JK2LJ7MZ1M35TDBO6H4I
  • Story Text: Azerbaijan urged the United States on Sunday (July 4) to help solve the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pressed its authoritarian government on human rights.
    A U.S.-backed push for a rapprochement between Armenia and U.S. ally Turkey has hurt U.S. relations with the strategic and oil-rich country, which worries that its interests will suffer as a result.
    Baku in April accused the United States of siding with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, a largely Christian region which seceded from Muslim Azerbaijan and proclaimed independence after a war in the 1990s that killed some 30,000 people.
    As a result of the strains in the relationship, including the absence of a U.S. ambassador for more than a year, Baku threatened to "reconsider" its ties with the United States.
    Strategically located between Russia and Iran, Azerbaijan has been a key supply route for U.S. troops in Afghanistan but ties have been frayed by multiple issues.
    In a news briefing with Azerbaijan Minister Elmar Mamedyarov, Clinton said the United States was ready to help Azerbaijan and Armenia reach an agreement on Nagorno-Karabakh.
    "The final steps towards peace are often the most difficult but we believe peace is possible and necessary and it is a prerequisite for building a secure and prosperous future in both nations," Clinton said before leaving Azerbaijan for Armenia.
    "The United States cannot resolve the conflicts in this region but we can be a partner and a supporter and an advocate for those resolutions."
    Azerbaijan wants Nagorno-Karabakh back, if necessary by force. More than 15 years of mediation have failed to produce a final peace deal and the threat of war is never far away.
    Last month, four ethnic Armenian troops and an Azeri soldier died in an exchange of fire near Nagorno-Karabakh.
    Clinton is the second top U.S. official to visit Azerbaijan in a month, following Defense Secretary Robert Gates' early June trip designed to smooth ruffled feathers and to guarantee U.S. supply lines for Afghanistan.
    Since 2001, military aircraft and supply trucks have crossed the country carrying U.S. and NATO forces and equipment to Afghanistan. The Pentagon wants to avoid problems that could slow Obama's 30,000-troop surge.
    The strains ran so deep that Gates delivered a letter to Aliyev in June from U.S. President Barack Obama, who said he was aware of the "serious issues in our relationship" but was confident they could be addressed.
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