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US CONCERNED BY AZERI-ARMENIAN TENSIONS
Newsday
http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/us-concerned-by-azeri-armenian-tensions-1.3760325
June 4 2012
By The Associated Press BRADLELY KLAPPER (Associated Press)
YEREVAN, Armenia - (AP) -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
on Monday kicked off three days of diplomacy in Europe's Caucasus,
expressing concern about recent clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan
as she hopes to mediate progress on a slew of trade and territorial
disputes.
In the middle of a weeklong European tour, Clinton decried the
"senseless deaths of young soldiers and innocent civilians" as part
of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict -- just hours after the latest border
clash. Armenia said three of its soldiers died and five were wounded.
It wasn't clear if any Azeri soldiers died.
"I am very concerned about the danger of escalation of tensions and the
senseless deaths of young soldiers and innocent civilians," Clinton
told reporters after a dinner with Armenia's president and foreign
minister. "The use of force will not resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict," she said, urging the sides to refrain from violence.
The border clash underscored the instability of a region with
long-simmering problems and surrounded by powerful neighbors Russia,
Turkey and Iran. She left Armenia Monday night for neighboring Georgia,
looking to strengthen security ties with a stalwart U.S. ally that
was crushed in its 2008 war against Russia and hopes to regain control
over two lost provinces. She visits Azerbaijan Wednesday.
Warning that Azeri-Armenian tensions could escalate into a broader
conflict with terrible consequences, she said the U.S. would continue
to press with France, Russia and others on mediation efforts.
The mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh enclave is within ex-Soviet
Azerbaijan, but was taken over by Armenia during a six-year separatist
war that killed about 30,000 people and displaced 1 million. Since
the war's end in 1994, it has remained under the control of Armenian
troops and ethnic Armenian forces.
Violations of the cease-fire have been frequent, and diplomatic efforts
to solve the conflict have failed. The U.S. hopes that at the least
Armenia and Azerbaijan can agree to a set of basic principles that
might lead toward peace. These include the return of territories
and uprooted people to their homes, and an eventual vote on the
area's future.
Washington also wants to normalize relations between Armenia and
Turkey, whose enmity reflects the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the
Ottoman Empire-era killing of some 1.5 million Armenians.
The Obama administration has tried hard to help Armenia improve its
economy, not least as a nod to the influential Armenian-American
community, which is particularly strong in the Los Angeles area.
Clinton, making her second trip to the region as secretary of state,
helped Armenia and Turkey reach an agreement in 2009 that would have
opened up their borders and normalized relations.
But the deal stalled back as Turkey's parliament refused to ratify it.
"The ball remains in Turkey's court," Clinton lamented.
Armenia's problems are compounded by its geography. Cut off from trade
with its booming neighbor Azerbaijan on one side and Azerbaijan's ally
Turkey on the other, it must conduct all its international commerce
through Georgia and Russia to the north. It is heavily dependent on
Moscow for fuel.
In Georgia, Clinton will underscore America's commitment to its
pro-Western partner's defense and its hope of regaining control of
breakaway South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Both declared independence
after Russian troops routed the Georgian military over five days of
fighting. Few governments beside Moscow have recognized them.
In Azerbaijan, America's top diplomat will continue efforts toward a
breakthrough in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, while addressing democracy
and media freedom shortcomings. But she'll also underline oil-rich
Azerbaijan's close cooperation with the U.S. on counterterrorism
and its booming economy, which has expanded fourfold since 2004,
attending an energy industry gathering in the capital of Baku to
promote American companies and future investments.
She will likely speak to officials as well about Azerbaijan's southern
neighbor, Iran.
Azerbaijan has arrested dozens of people it claims were hired by the
Islamic republic to carry out attacks against the U.S. and Israeli
embassies, as well as Western-linked groups and companies.
___ Associated Press writer Avet Demuryan contributed to this report.
Newsday
http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/us-concerned-by-azeri-armenian-tensions-1.3760325
June 4 2012
By The Associated Press BRADLELY KLAPPER (Associated Press)
YEREVAN, Armenia - (AP) -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
on Monday kicked off three days of diplomacy in Europe's Caucasus,
expressing concern about recent clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan
as she hopes to mediate progress on a slew of trade and territorial
disputes.
In the middle of a weeklong European tour, Clinton decried the
"senseless deaths of young soldiers and innocent civilians" as part
of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict -- just hours after the latest border
clash. Armenia said three of its soldiers died and five were wounded.
It wasn't clear if any Azeri soldiers died.
"I am very concerned about the danger of escalation of tensions and the
senseless deaths of young soldiers and innocent civilians," Clinton
told reporters after a dinner with Armenia's president and foreign
minister. "The use of force will not resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict," she said, urging the sides to refrain from violence.
The border clash underscored the instability of a region with
long-simmering problems and surrounded by powerful neighbors Russia,
Turkey and Iran. She left Armenia Monday night for neighboring Georgia,
looking to strengthen security ties with a stalwart U.S. ally that
was crushed in its 2008 war against Russia and hopes to regain control
over two lost provinces. She visits Azerbaijan Wednesday.
Warning that Azeri-Armenian tensions could escalate into a broader
conflict with terrible consequences, she said the U.S. would continue
to press with France, Russia and others on mediation efforts.
The mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh enclave is within ex-Soviet
Azerbaijan, but was taken over by Armenia during a six-year separatist
war that killed about 30,000 people and displaced 1 million. Since
the war's end in 1994, it has remained under the control of Armenian
troops and ethnic Armenian forces.
Violations of the cease-fire have been frequent, and diplomatic efforts
to solve the conflict have failed. The U.S. hopes that at the least
Armenia and Azerbaijan can agree to a set of basic principles that
might lead toward peace. These include the return of territories
and uprooted people to their homes, and an eventual vote on the
area's future.
Washington also wants to normalize relations between Armenia and
Turkey, whose enmity reflects the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the
Ottoman Empire-era killing of some 1.5 million Armenians.
The Obama administration has tried hard to help Armenia improve its
economy, not least as a nod to the influential Armenian-American
community, which is particularly strong in the Los Angeles area.
Clinton, making her second trip to the region as secretary of state,
helped Armenia and Turkey reach an agreement in 2009 that would have
opened up their borders and normalized relations.
But the deal stalled back as Turkey's parliament refused to ratify it.
"The ball remains in Turkey's court," Clinton lamented.
Armenia's problems are compounded by its geography. Cut off from trade
with its booming neighbor Azerbaijan on one side and Azerbaijan's ally
Turkey on the other, it must conduct all its international commerce
through Georgia and Russia to the north. It is heavily dependent on
Moscow for fuel.
In Georgia, Clinton will underscore America's commitment to its
pro-Western partner's defense and its hope of regaining control of
breakaway South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Both declared independence
after Russian troops routed the Georgian military over five days of
fighting. Few governments beside Moscow have recognized them.
In Azerbaijan, America's top diplomat will continue efforts toward a
breakthrough in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, while addressing democracy
and media freedom shortcomings. But she'll also underline oil-rich
Azerbaijan's close cooperation with the U.S. on counterterrorism
and its booming economy, which has expanded fourfold since 2004,
attending an energy industry gathering in the capital of Baku to
promote American companies and future investments.
She will likely speak to officials as well about Azerbaijan's southern
neighbor, Iran.
Azerbaijan has arrested dozens of people it claims were hired by the
Islamic republic to carry out attacks against the U.S. and Israeli
embassies, as well as Western-linked groups and companies.
___ Associated Press writer Avet Demuryan contributed to this report.