Outgoing U.S. envoy talks Karabakh, Turkey at final press event December 19, 2014 - 18:33 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The outgoing U.S. ambassador to Armenia John Heffern reiterated today (Dec 19) that there is no military solution to the long-running Nagorno Karabakh conflict, ARKA reports. Speaking at a farewell news conference in Yerevan he said he had to repeat the statements by the OSCE Minsk Group that the Karabakh conflict has no military solution, and the only one way to settle it is through peace talks. However, he stressed that the OSCE Ming Group is acting as a peace broker and can not impose a solution on the parties to the conflict. "By and large, it all depends on the conflict parties themselves," said the diplomat. According to him, the U.S. hopes that the strategic South Caucasus region will sooner or later become open, and that Washington, for its part, is ready to help resolve the conflict and open borders. He said the U.S. wants to help Armenia to become a strategically important country with new possibilities and alternatives. According to him, the U.S. and EU are willing to deepen cooperation with Armenia in any sphere where Armenia will demonstrate political will. According to him, even though Armenia is a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), it also effectively cooperates with NATO and is willing to continue cooperation with the West on mutually beneficial terms, which is natural, "because there are no winners and losers." He stressed that Washington will continue helping Armenia to build democracy and strengthen human rights, rule of law and free media. The outgoing envoy also commented on the lack of progress in Armenia-Turkey reconciliation, Armenian media report. He said during his tenure in Armenia his biggest disappointment was about the Armenian-Turkish protocols. The envoy said they expected that the protocols would be ratified resulting in the opening of the border and establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. But the lack of progress is disappointing, he said. At the same time, the ambassador said, the U.S. will continue supporting the Yerevan-Ankara reconciliation. Top stories The Cabinet of Ministers decided on Thursday, November 9 to allocated AMD 120 million to arrange the gathering. Michael Roth believes sanctions must be put on the table after Baku‘s ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Yerevan City Council has elected Tigran Avniyan from the ruling Civil Contract as the mayor of the Armenian capital. The Armenian Parliament on Tuesday, October 3 voted to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Partner news | Aliyev touts “good chances” for normalizing ties with Armenia Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has declared that there are “good chances” for normalizing relations with Armenia. Putin secures fifth term as Russian president Russian President Vladimir Putin has secured a fifth term in office through a dubious national plebiscite. IDBank unveils three sad stories about fraudsters IDBank has unveiled three scenarios of card fraud that have been happening more and more often in Armenia. NATO encourages Yerevan, Baku to address humanitarian issues The evolving security environment has had a significant impact on NATO’s partners in the South Caucasus. |