The United States took a neutral position on the issue of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and highly supports the OSCE Minsk Group’s efforts, U.S. State Department Acting Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner said in an interview with the Azerbaijani representation of Voice of America.
There is no cooling in Azerbaijani-U.S. relations, Tonar said. As co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, the United States has taken every effort to resolve the protracted conflict together with Azerbaijan and Armenia.
“The United States does not recognize the independence of Nagorno Karabakh. We are not on anyone’s side. We support the Minsk Group and the peaceful settlement of the conflict,” he said.
Toner also touched upon the Turkish-Armenian negotiations.
“We stand for the normalization of Turkish-Armenian ties, which corresponds with the interests of the region. At the same time, we support the Minsk process. We would like to achieve a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and to work with Azerbaijan and Armenia in this regard,” he added.
Speaking about the meeting between Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton and Ankara’s role in resolving the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, Toner said the country as a strong partner and ally and the United States plays a constructive role in the region.
“Turkey is a strong partner and ally in the region. We are confident that the country plays a constructive role in the region. Of course, the Davutoglu-Clinton meeting discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the Minsk process. Our objective in the region is the normalization of Turkish -Armenian and Azerbaijani-Armenian relations, and we pledged to achieve these objectives,” he said.
Trend
