Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 6 / Trend E. Kosolapova/
The U.S. should pay more attention to Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, David Merkel, senior fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations - John Hopkins University in the U.S. and Former U.S. State Department and National Security Council senior official believes.
"I think a greater focus is needed on seeking a peaceful resolution to Nagorno-Karabakh issue. Nothing has happened in the last 18 month since Kazan meeting. I think that we have to accept that the Minsk group is an ineffective organization to really seek progress in this process. And I believe that to see real progress requires US leadership on this issue. I think it has to be at the significant level in the U.S.," Merkel told Trend in an interview.
According to Merkel, US participation in the issue will allow to hasten the peaceful resolution of the conflict.
Merkel urged to avoid any activity which can be a spark to Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and bring a greater violence, such as opening of the airport in the city of Khojaly.
"The suggestion of the opening of airport runs counter to the Chicago convention. The reasons providing why it should be opened do not really stand up to scrutiny," he said.
According to Merkel, the unresolved conflict holds back the whole region. Meanwhile the situation in Azerbaijan is much better than in Armenia.
"There has been a lot happening in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is a country which really thinks about its future. Meanwhile, Armenia has remained in the past," Merkel said.
Earlier, Armenian media reported on the commissioning of the airport at Khojaly in the near future.
Commissioning the airport is an open violation of the Convention on International Civil Aviation [adopted on December 7, 1944 in Chicago], the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reported earlier.
In this regard, Azerbaijan will strengthen the legal level use of the application of the Chicago convention.
Azerbaijan banned the use of the airspace over Nagorno-Karabakh occupied by Armenia, as no one can guarantee a safe air corridor in the area, the head of the Azerbaijani Civil Aviation Administration, Arif Mammadov said earlier.
He said Armenia's steps towards the operation of the airport are attempts to violate international aviation law. This air space belongs to Azerbaijan, so its use by Armenia is illegal.
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the European Civil Aviation Conference (ICAC) also support the position of Azerbaijan on this issue.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France and the U.S. - are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions.