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Blinken Discusses Armenian-Azeri Conflict With Turkish FM


USA - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu meet in New York, September 20, 2022.
USA - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu meet in New York, September 20, 2022.

The Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict was on the agenda of talks held by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in New York on Tuesday.

Blinken tweeted after the “positive meeting” that they discussed, among other issues, “U.S. efforts to mediate conflict in the South Caucasus.” He gave no details of that discussion.

According to U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price, Blinken told Cavusoglu that “the United States continues to engage to facilitate dialogue between Azerbaijan and Armenia and help achieve a long-term political settlement to the conflict.”

In his opening remarks at the meeting, Cavusoglu praised Blinken for hosting talks between the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in New York on Monday.

The talks came one week after the outbreak of fighting on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border which left at least 280 soldiers from both sides dead. No concrete agreements were announced as a result of them.

Armenia says that Azerbaijani forces attacked various sections of the border as part of Baku’s efforts to clinch far-reaching concessions from Yerevan.

Azerbaijan as well as Turkey, its main ally, blame the Armenian side for the worst violence in the conflict zone since the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh. They both denounced on Monday U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi for accusing Baku of military aggression against Armenia.

Pelosi condemned the “illegal and deadly attacks on the Armenian territory” during a weekend visit to Yerevan. Turkish Vice-President Fuat Oktay said the White House must clarify whether her statements reflect the official U.S. policy on the conflict.

In a September 13 phone call, Blinken urged Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to “cease hostilities” and voiced serious concern over “reported strikes against settlements and civilian infrastructure inside Armenia.”

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