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A Diplomatic Deal On Nagorno-Karabakh Is The Wisest Path To Take

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  • A Diplomatic Deal On Nagorno-Karabakh Is The Wisest Path To Take

    A DIPLOMATIC DEAL ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH IS THE WISEST PATH TO TAKE
    By Elmar Mammadyarov

    European Voice, Belgium
    http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/impor ted/a-diplomatic-deal-on-nagorno-karabakh-is-the-w isest-path-to-take/60585.aspx
    April 30 2008

    A diplomatic accord with Armenia would benefit the region and Europe,
    writes Azerbaijan's foreign minister.

    With oil at more than $115 a barrel, and the global market on
    tenterhooks, there is virtual inaction by the major consumer countries
    of the West to resolve a simmering conflict less than 20 km from the
    world's second-longest oil pipeline.

    The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline bringing Caspian oil to the
    Mediterranean and western markets through Azerbaijan, Georgia,
    and Turkey skirts the conflict zone of Nagorno-Karabakh - the
    internationally-recognized Azerbaijani territory currently under
    Armenian occupation. World energy security, as well as the stability
    and economic prosperity of the Caspian region, now demands that the
    long-running dispute over Karabakh, part of Europe's new neighbourhood,
    is settled.

    My country is not only resource-rich; we have systematically
    attempted to embed ourselves in multilateral structures and
    negotiations. Azerbaijan is determined to see its territorial integrity
    restored in the near future. Over two decades, almost a million of
    our people have been displaced by a foreign occupying force.

    A resolution will not just benefit us. Armenia too will see its
    international isolation ended. Its borders with Azerbaijan will
    be opened, with all the prosperity that will follow lucrative
    east-west trade and transport. Regional powers - Iran and Turkey -
    will benefit from decreased instability in their neighbourhood, and
    Europe will gain stable partners in the region, with one less haven
    for trans-national threats.

    As for Russia, its interests in the region for once converge very well
    with those of the EU. As one of the biggest foreign direct investors
    in our countries, Russian businesses will benefit from stability,
    transparency, and predictability in the South Caucasus.

    Despite phenomenal economic progress in Azerbaijan, our full potential
    - and thus the full potential of the Caspian region - cannot be
    realised while the conflict remains unresolved. The occupied areas
    are also havens for illegal transnational activity, money laundering
    and drug and arms trafficking, which directly affects the citizens
    of European countries as well as the states in the region.

    On 15 April, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed
    clear support for Azerbaijan's full sovereignty and called for more
    political will to achieve resolution. The NATO alliance at its summit
    in Bucharest earlier this month agreed that peace in Karabakh must
    be realized quickly and within the borders of Azerbaijan. In March,
    the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution reaffirming
    Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and explicitly calling for the
    withdrawal of all Armenian forces.

    This widespread support is partly based on the nature of the Armenian
    occupation. Today's uncertain status quo rests on a foundation
    of ethnic cleansing comparable to that which occurred in Bosnia or
    Kosovo. Azerbaijan and the international community cannot tolerate the
    continued, systematic eradication of Azerbaijani culture and Muslim
    tradition in the occupied areas. Staring down Armenian forces over a
    shaky ceasefire line inside our internationally recognized territory
    is no longer a workable reality. They must leave and the displaced
    people return.

    Azerbaijan proposes a final offer to Armenia. We support full autonomy
    for Karabakh within Azerbaijan. Our priority is diplomacy, but we
    keep all options on the table when it comes to restoring the full
    sovereignty of Azerbaijan.

    Elmar Mammadyarov is Azerbaijan's minister of foreign affairs
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