US pushes Armenia, Azerbaijan for diplomatic solution

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

ANKARA (AA) - The US urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to "pursue a diplomatic solution" to the Upper Karabakh conflict, according to a State Department statement Tuesday.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had separate telephone calls with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, said agency spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus.

"Secretary Pompeo pressed the leaders to abide by their commitments to cease hostilities and pursue a diplomatic solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, and noted that there is no military solution to this conflict," said Ortagus.

She was referring to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group that is co-chaired by France, Russia and the US.

The Minsk Group was formed in 1992 to find a peaceful solution to the conflict between the two nations, but to no avail.

Pompeo reiterated the importance of fully implementing a cease-fire agreed to Oct. 10 in Moscow.

Relations between the two former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Upper Karabakh, or Nagorno-Karabakh, an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

Four UN Security Council resolutions and two by the UN General Assembly, as well as international organizations, demand the "immediate complete and unconditional withdrawal of the occupying forces" from the occupied Azerbaijani territory.

About 20% of Azerbaijan's territory has been under illegal Armenian occupation for nearly three decades.