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AMERICAN ENVOY ACCUSED OF SIDING WITH ARMENIA IN SARSANG WATER DISPUTE
PR Newswire Europe
May 22, 2014 Thursday 5:03 PM EST
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22, 2014
U.S. diplomat James Warlick has been accused of siding with Aremenia
after he voiced support for Yerevan's proposal to end the dispute
over the imperilled Sarsang Reservoir.
The dam, built by the Soviets in the 1970s, lies in Armenian-occupied
Nagorno-Karabakh and is generating concern on two fronts. Firstly, it
is in serious need of repair and threatens the lives of an estimated
400,000 Azerbaijanis downstream. Secondly, the Armenians who control
it are denying those same people its water during the parching
summer months.
Giving this hostile stance, Azerbaijan was stunned to hear Warlick
suggest in a statement on social media that Armenia could fairly
share this resource.
"This is Sarsang reservoir. It would be a positive step if the
parties were able to use the resources of water," said Warlick,
who co-chairs the OSCE Minsk Group which is tasked with ending the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
But Elkhan Suleymanov, who heads the Association for Civil Society
Development in Azerbaijan, responded: "Mr James Warlick is sharing
his fantastic and crazy ideas".
"Azerbaijan will cooperate neither with the aggressor state nor with
the separatist regime formed by it until the occupation is stopped,"
he added.
Suleymanov also questioned Warlick's actions on the basis that the
Minsk group is supposed to be neutral in resolving this conflict.
He said Warlick is simply repeating the unworkable proposal first
espoused last year by the deputy prime minister of the separatist
regime, Artur Aghabekyan.
And he further charged that Warlick is attempting to influence the
special rapporteur on the Sarsang reservoir who was appointed by the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe just last week.
"I believe that Warlick's opinions serve the deliberate aim of
influencing the investigations of the rapporteur on the Sarsang
reservoir," Suleymanov said.
"By doing this Mr Warlick sends message to the rapporteur and PACE
members that this is an American position."
The 76m high Sarsang reservoir holds back 12-kilometre long lake.
Azerbaijan is calling for an on-the-ground assessment of its condition
by independent engineers and hydrologists as a minimum first safety
measure.
To date these experts have been forced to rely on aerial assessments
of the dam's condition due to Armenia's intransigence.
PR Newswire Europe
May 22, 2014 Thursday 5:03 PM EST
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22, 2014
U.S. diplomat James Warlick has been accused of siding with Aremenia
after he voiced support for Yerevan's proposal to end the dispute
over the imperilled Sarsang Reservoir.
The dam, built by the Soviets in the 1970s, lies in Armenian-occupied
Nagorno-Karabakh and is generating concern on two fronts. Firstly, it
is in serious need of repair and threatens the lives of an estimated
400,000 Azerbaijanis downstream. Secondly, the Armenians who control
it are denying those same people its water during the parching
summer months.
Giving this hostile stance, Azerbaijan was stunned to hear Warlick
suggest in a statement on social media that Armenia could fairly
share this resource.
"This is Sarsang reservoir. It would be a positive step if the
parties were able to use the resources of water," said Warlick,
who co-chairs the OSCE Minsk Group which is tasked with ending the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
But Elkhan Suleymanov, who heads the Association for Civil Society
Development in Azerbaijan, responded: "Mr James Warlick is sharing
his fantastic and crazy ideas".
"Azerbaijan will cooperate neither with the aggressor state nor with
the separatist regime formed by it until the occupation is stopped,"
he added.
Suleymanov also questioned Warlick's actions on the basis that the
Minsk group is supposed to be neutral in resolving this conflict.
He said Warlick is simply repeating the unworkable proposal first
espoused last year by the deputy prime minister of the separatist
regime, Artur Aghabekyan.
And he further charged that Warlick is attempting to influence the
special rapporteur on the Sarsang reservoir who was appointed by the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe just last week.
"I believe that Warlick's opinions serve the deliberate aim of
influencing the investigations of the rapporteur on the Sarsang
reservoir," Suleymanov said.
"By doing this Mr Warlick sends message to the rapporteur and PACE
members that this is an American position."
The 76m high Sarsang reservoir holds back 12-kilometre long lake.
Azerbaijan is calling for an on-the-ground assessment of its condition
by independent engineers and hydrologists as a minimum first safety
measure.
To date these experts have been forced to rely on aerial assessments
of the dam's condition due to Armenia's intransigence.