Accessibility links

Breaking News

NATO Chief, Azerbaijani President Discuss Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict


Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev (left) and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg give a press conference at the end of a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels on November 23.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev (left) and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg give a press conference at the end of a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels on November 23.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev discussed the conflict over Azerbaijan's breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh in Brussels on November 23, with Aliyev reiterating Baku's harsh criticism of neighboring Armenia in the decades-long standoff.

Addressing reporters at NATO headquarters following the talks, Stoltenberg called the conflict a "matter of concern" for the Western military alliance and urged the two sides to "avoid any new escalation."

Standing next to Stoltenberg, Aliyev said the situation surrounding the breakaway region was "not changing, unfortunately," and accused Armenia of seeking "to keep the status quo."

Armenia-backed separatists seized control of mainly Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh during a war in the early 1990s that killed some 30,000 people. Diplomatic efforts to settle the conflict have brought little progress.

Internationally mediated negotiations with the involvement of the OSCE's so-called Minsk Group, which is co-chaired by France, Russia, and the United States, have failed to result in a resolution.

'Renewed Dialogue'

The talks between Stoltenberg and Aliyev were held a day after the de facto military authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh said three of its fighters were killed and one seriously wounded in a November 21 land-mine explosion near the line of contact separating the combatant sides.

Stoltenberg said he was encouraged by "renewed dialogue" between Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian, who held talks in Geneva last month that the two sides called "constructive."

Aliyev, who slammed Armenia for what he called a policy of "ethnic cleansing" in the region, was set to meet officials from all 29 NATO member states later on November 23, Stoltenberg said.

Both Aliyev and Sarkisian are slated to meet EU leaders at the Eastern Partnership summit in the Belgian capital on November 24.

Addressing the UN General Assembly in September, Sarkisian accused Azerbaijan of committing "a number of war crimes" against civilians and "prisoners of war" in 2016.

He called on Baku to "recognize and respect the right of the people" of Nagorno-Karabakh to decide their "own future through a free expression of will."

With reporting by RFE/RL's Azerbaijani and Armenian services
  • 16x9 Image

    RFE/RL

    RFE/RL journalists report the news in 27 languages in 23 countries where a free press is banned by the government or not fully established. We provide what many people cannot get locally: uncensored news, responsible discussion, and open debate.

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.

To find out more, click here.

XS
SM
MD
LG