State Dept: Blinken Urged Aliyev To 'Commit To Broad Amnesty'

Washington D.C./27.09.23/Turan:     U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday urged President Ilham Aliyev to commit to broad amnesty, and noted his public commitments to "help build a future for all those in Nagorno-Karabakh based on peace, mutual understanding, and mutual respect," as State Department's Spokesperson Matthew Miller put it, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

Blinken spoke with Aliyev for the third time this month.  As TURAN reported yesterday, the two sides have also discussed a potential observer mission in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Blinken called on President Aliyev to "provide assurances to the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh that they can live securely in their homes and that their rights will be protected," Miller said in a readout of the call.

Blinken-Aliyev discussion comes as two high-ranking U.S. officials — acting Assistant Secretary of State Yuri Kim and USAID' Administrator Samantha Power — are currently traveling in the region to survey the aftermath of the fighting.

The move also comes as Armenian diaspora members in the U.S. are planning to target today's second Republican presidential primary in California to draw attention to conflict.

Alex Raufoglu