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Minsk Group ready to arrange new Armenian-Azerbaijani talks over Karabakh – Russian co-chair

February 1, 2017 By administrator

The Russian co-chair the OSCE Minsk Group has expressed the mission’s readiness to arrange a new round of Armenian-Azerbaijani talks over Nagorno-Karabakh between the two countries’ foreign ministers.
“The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group have agreed to conduct individual consultations with the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers on the sidelines of the Munich Conference in mid-February,” the news agency TASS quotes Ambassador Igor Popov as saying.
The diplomat said they are continuing the trilateral peace efforts (Russia-Azerbaijan-Armenia) based upon the agreements reached at the St Petersburg talks last summer.
“The Nagorno-Karabakh issue has been recently discussed between [Russian and Armenian Foreign Ministers] Sergey Lavrov and Edward Nalbandian, and later also with [Azerbaijani Foreign Minister] Elmar Mammadyarov. Once the necessary conditions are met, we will be able to conduct the trilateral meeting,” he added.

 

Filed Under: Event Schedule Tagged With: Azerbaijan, Karabakh, Minsk Group

Richard Hoagland is the Wrong American for the Karabagh/Artsakh Talks

January 9, 2017 By administrator

By David Boyajian,

Before leaving office, President Obama apparently couldn’t resist one more terrible appointment.
He just tapped career diplomat Richard E. Hoagland to be the interim American representative to the Karabagh (Artsakh) talks conducted by the OCSE’s Minsk Group (co-chairs: US/Russia/France).
Hoagland, who would replace the retiring, pro-Azeri James Warlick, is a notorious Armenian genocide denier.

Senate Rejected Hoagland Ten Years Ago

Recall that in 2006-7 Pres. George W. Bush nominated

Hoagland to be the ambassador to Armenia.

As expected, Hoagland declined to label as genocide Turkey’s murder of 1.5 million Christian Armenians from 1915-23. But he went much further.
Hoagland cast doubt on the factuality of the Armenian genocide and tried to damage Armenian legal rights.
Among the genocide-denying parasites that inhabit the bowels of the US State Department, Hoagland is one of the more repulsive.
Turkey, said Hoagland, lacked the “specific intent” — required by the UN Genocide Convention of 1948 — to destroy Armenians.
Yet nearly two dozen countries, the Int’l Assoc. of Genocide Scholars, Raphael Lemkin (who coined the word genocide and initiated the Genocide Convention), a 1951 US State Department filing with the Int’l Court of Justice, President Reagan’s Proclamation 4838 in 1981, and many more have recognized the Armenian “genocide.”
In 2006, Pres. Bush had just kowtowed to Turkey by yanking Amb. John Evans from the embassy in Yerevan because he’d publicly acknowledged the Armenian genocide. The White House also pressured the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) to withdraw the “Constructive Dissent” award it was to give Evans for his genocide acknowledgement. Evans was forced to resign from the State Department in September of 2006.
The above factors led Senators Allen (R-VA), Biden (D-DE) [now VP], Boxer (D-CA), Coleman (R-MN), Feingold (D-WI), Kerry (D-MA) [now Sec. of State], Menendez (D-NJ), Reid (D-NV), Sarbanes (D-MD) and several House members to express deep skepticism about Hoagland.
Then-Senator Obama (D-IL), not surprisingly, favored Hoagland.
In any case, the Senate refused to confirm Hoagland in 2006-7.

Hoagland’s Hypocrisy

As Deputy Ambassador to Pakistan, Hoagland held an event that opens a window into hypocritical aspects of his character and US policy.
In 2011, he hosted an “LGBT pride celebration” at the American Embassy in Islamabad. Hoagland, whose sexual orientation is no secret, is a founder of the Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies. Naturally, the event greatly offended traditionalist Pakistani religious and political groups.
One wonders, does Hoagland disrespect Turks as he does Armenians and Pakistanis? We know this: Hoagland heaped only praise on Turks when he spoke at the annual Turkic American Convention last year.
While laboring on behalf of those whom, like himself, he believes are treated unfairly, Hoagland tries to undermine Armenian legal rights. Thus, he and the US hypocritically cherry-pick the human rights issues they wish to advance.

Armenian and Diasporan Passivity

As far as we know, Armenia lodged no protest against Hoagland in 2006-7. Nor have Armenia/Artsakh done so now. Such passivity is a mistake.
The Armenian Assembly of America (AAA) questioned Hoagland’s nomination in 2006-7, but the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) vehemently opposed it.
Last month, however, ANCA said that while it notes Hoagland’s “denial of the Armenian Genocide,” it nevertheless expects “a constructive relationship with Ambassador Hoagland and looks forward to working with him” on Artsakh. It’s hard to see how “working with” an unrepentant genocide denier can be “constructive.”
AAA has yet to take a position on Hoagland’s Minsk Group appointment. Silence, in this case, is definitely not golden.
As an American, I can’t tell Armenia/Artsakh what do to. No nation, however, should be forced to deal with a diplomat who aggressively denies its genocide.
Indeed, countries often reject diplomats who are insulting or abusive. Armenia/Artsakh could continue to confer with the Minsk Group’s Russian and French representatives but not Hoagland.
The United States and OSCE would understand and — even if they say otherwise — agree that Hoagland’s appointment was an insult and blunder. Armenia/Artsakh would gain a new respect.
The people of Armenia/Artsakh have responded strongly to Azeri military provocations. But their governments are too often diplomatically passive.
For instance, when Azerbaijan flagrantly violates the ceasefire, the OSCE habitually fails to blame the obvious aggressor: Azerbaijan. Armenia/Artsakh protest, but tepidly. And they continue to meet with Minsk Group and Azeri representatives as if nothing had happened.
This demoralizes the Armenian people and encourages Azerbaijani aggression and disrespect by the Minsk Group.
But is it relevant which diplomats the US appoints? Don’t they all have to follow US policy anyway? Actually, no. Diplomats can diverge from US policy in positive and negative ways both in and out of office.

Diplomats Matter

John Evans, the US Ambassador to Armenia (2004-6), made a difference with his open acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide. He exposed the US State Department’s hypocrisy and its extortion of the AFSA.
Ever since, Evans has repeatedly spoken out and written about the Armenian genocide. He’s an advisor to the board of the US-based Children of Armenian Fund (COAF). He sailed across the Atlantic with three crewmates to raise funds for Armenia’s children. His wife Donna sits on COAF’s board. Contrast the principled John Evans with the pro-Turkish, pro-Azeri Matthew Bryza.
Bryza was Washington’s representative to the Mink Group (2006-9) and served as American ambassador to Azerbaijan (2010-11). He now sits on the board of Turcas Petrol, an affiliate of SOCAR (State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic). Bryza lives in Istanbul with his Turkish-born wife Zeyno Baran. She has worked for “Azerbaijan Focus: Journal of International Affairs,” a quasi-government publication, while Bryza’s writings continue to reflect his pro-Azeri sentiments.
Hoagland himself, being pro-Turkic and a Minsk Group mediator, is in a position to draft some very dangerous “peace” proposals for Armenia/Artsakh. Even as an ambassador to Armenia, he would not have had such power.
Richard Hoagland is the wrong man for America. His appointment should be withdrawn now.
Otherwise, Armenia, Artsakh, and the Diaspora should rightly declare him persona non grata.

David Boyajian is a freelance journalist. Many of his articles are archived at http://www.armeniapedia.org/wiki/David_Boyajian. 


# # #

Filed Under: Genocide, News Tagged With: Karabakh, Minsk Group, OCSE, Richard Hoagland

Minsk Group mediators not judges for Armenia, Azerbaijan – Nagorno-Karabakh official

August 5, 2016 By administrator

karabakh russiaThe OSCE Minsk Group, which acts as a mediator in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, is not a judge for the conflicting parties to decide to the right steps, a spokesperson for the Nagorno-Karabakh president has said, commenting on the Russian president’s recent statement.

“And that’s what we repeatedly state. If the sides – namely, Azerbaijan – are not (and probably will not unfortunately ever be) ready for an agreement to resolve the problem, why should Russia impose any measure at all?” David Babayan told Tert.am.
In an interview with the Azerbaijani news agency AZERTAC, Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country is not going to offer “ready-made recipes” to Armenia and Azerbaijan to help resolve the conflict. Instead, he proposed the official Moscow’s support to any constructive proposal.
“We have so many times addressed the topic. So it [Putin’s statment] now comes as a clear proof of that. Hence, anyone who has common sense, logic and wit must guess and understand the processes under way,” Mr Babayan said.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Azerbaijan, Karabakh, Minsk Group, Russia

UPPER KARABAKH The members of the Minsk Group warns PACE

January 25, 2016 By administrator

arton121332-480x270The US diplomats, Russian and French Minsk Group have again warned on Friday the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) it does not undermine their efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by adopting pro-Azerbaijani resolutions this week in Strasbourg.

In a joint statement, James Warlick, Igor Popov and Pierre Andrieu stressed that the co-leaders of the Minsk Group of the OSCE “remained the only legitimate interlocutors for negotiations.”

“We appreciate the interest of members of PACE, but urge that measures are not taken, as they could compromise the mandate of the Minsk Group and complicate the negotiations”, they kept insisting.

Two draft resolutions on Karabakh were approved by the Standing Committees of the PACE in November. One of them was developed by Robert Walter, a pro-British parliamentary Azerbaijan. It requires the Karabakh “return to Azerbaijan” and said that the three mediating powers should “consider reviewing” their peace efforts accordingly.

The other paper by MP Milica Markovic Bosnian accuses Armenia of “deliberately deprive” Azerbaijani farmers water that flows from the reservoir Sarsang in northern Karabakh. It also calls for “the immediate withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the region.”

Armenia and Karabakh strongly rejected the proposed resolutions, accusing their authors to have close ties with the Azerbaijani government, thus calling into doubt their impartiality. Criticism has been particularly sharp against Walter, who would have received Turkish citizenship and would have moved to Turkey last year.

The co-chairs of the Minsk Group have also criticized the resolution and Walter warned that PACE had to not “disturb the negotiation process and hinders progress towards a settlement,” in a statement in November.

However, Azerbaijan welcomed the proposed text. He also lambasted the US mediators, Russian and French, explaining that their long peace efforts have produced “no results.”

Monday, January 25, 2016,
Claire © armenews.com

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Karabakh, Minsk Group, PACE, warns

Minsk Group US co-chair: Armenia and Azerbaijan presidents’ talk concluded with toast

December 20, 2015 By administrator

Armenian Azery meetingThe Armenia-Azerbaijan summit concluded with a toast to 2016 to work towards a negotiated settlement.

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group Co-Chair James Warlick of the US tweeted the aforementioned, in connection with Saturday’s talk between President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Bern, the capital city of Switzerland.

The talk had gotten underway with the participation of OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Igor Popov of Russia, James Warlick of the US, and Pierre Andrieu of France as well as Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office; and subsequently, the Sargsyan-Aliyev meeting was held without these mediators.

And following their tête-à-tête that extended more than one hour, the co-chairs as well as the FMs of both countries were invited in.

 

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Minsk Group

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