Epress.am News from Armenia
Contrary to expectations, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan did not even meet at Astana. An Armenian diplomatic source, who asked not to be identified, told RFE/RL’s Armenian service that the Azerbaijani leader cancelled his planned talks with Sargysan and Medvedev “at the last minute.”
The source claimed that Aliyev did so because of “glaring contradictions” between the text of the five-party statement and his speech at the summit delivered later in the day.
In that speech, Aliyev lashed out at Armenia, again stating that it is seeking to prolong the Karabakh status quo and to turn peace talks organized by the Minsk Group Co-Chairs into a “meaningless process.” He also accused the Armenians of committing “war crimes and a genocide” against Karabakh’s Azerbaijani population during the 1991-1994 war.
Recall that no peace deal was reached at the Dec. 1–2 OSCE Summit. The two countries’ leaders only issued a joint statement that was also signed by the heads of the US, Russian and French delegations at the summit. It said Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev “reaffirmed their commitment” to seek a peaceful settlement based on international law and “basic principles” advocated by the three mediating powers, reports RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun Radio).
According to the statement, the signatories “agreed that the time has come for more decisive efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.” “They further agreed that a peaceful, negotiated settlement will bring stability and security and is the only way to bring real reconciliation to the peoples of the region,” it said.