Let Karabakh determine its own future: Armenian leader

BERLIN: The global community must recognize the right of the disputed Nagorny Karabakh region to determine its own future, Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian said Wednesday after four days of deadly clashes that unsettled the West.

“They want to determine their own fate and their own future,” Sarkisian said of the region after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.
“They expect only one thing from the international community, namely the recognition of this right.”
At least 75 people were reported killed as the festering dispute over the territory — which was captured from Azerbaijan by Armenian separatists in an early 1990s war — escalated dramatically on Friday, sparking international concern.
Azerbaijan’s army claimed to have snatched control of several strategic locations inside Armenian-controlled territory, effectively changing the frontline for the first time since an inconclusive truce ended the war in 1994.
Both sides have accused each other of starting the latest outbreak of violence, and it has sparked fears of a wider conflict in the region that could drag in Russia and Turkey.
Sarkisian accused Azerbaijan of “unilaterally” breaking the peace by taking “hostile action,” transforming the region into a “security threat.” He also hit out at Russia. Although Moscow has sold arms to both sides, it has a military alliance with, and a base in, Armenia and far closer ties to Yerevan.
“It is of course painful for us that Russia and other countries... sell weapons to Azerbaijan,” he said.
“But our scope to influence this process is limited.”
Merkel called on the two sides “to do everything in their power to stop the bloodshed and loss of life” and said international mediation efforts were “of the greatest urgency.”
The German leader also said she would host Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev for talks in June.