Washington D.C./Turan: The White House on Tuesday called on Azerbaijan and Armenia to "deescalate," TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.
"We urge all sides here to deescalate... We don't want to see any of this violence, and we want to see all sides take appropriate steps to deescalate the tension and to stop the violence," National Security Council's John Kirby told reporters when asked about the administration's position on the ongoing conflict.
He refused to comment on the question about the presence of 2,000 Russian soldiers in the Karabakh region as a cause for concern: "I’m not prepared to go beyond that today."
Kirby's comments came as the Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke separately with Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders to "offer continued U.S. assistance in facilitating peace discussions," as the Department put it in its readouts.
TURAN's Washington correspondent asked Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson, for further details regarding the Secretary's call which followed his Senior Advisor Lou Bono's recent visit in the region.
The Secretary "was offering his continued support on the U.S.’s assistance in these engagements, which as you know... is something that we have remained quite committed on," Patel said during a daily press briefing.
He went on to add, "Obviously through Secretary Blinken’s commitment to this issue, when Ambassador Reeker was leading this portfolio through his work, and now through the work of Lou Bono as well."
TURAN also asked Patel whether Blinken raised the issue of human rights during his call with President Aliyev.
"I don’t have specifics to get into about the diplomatic engagements... beyond what was in the readout. But of course, human rights is something that we raise regularly with all our partners, including those in the South Caucasus," Patel said.
Alex Raufoglu
Politics
-
On 23 November at the COP29 climate conference in Baku, eco-activists from different countries held a protest action against the failure of countries to agree on climate finance.
-
On the eve of the closing of the COP29 climate conference in Baku, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has drawn attention to the criminal cases of journalists detained in Azerbaijan.
-
Negotiations at the 29th session of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Baku have been extended until November 24, a source in the UNFCCC Secretariat told the Turan news agency. According to the source, participants aim to finalize and sign the concluding documents by that date.
-
According to the Turkish newspaper Sabah, officials from the Istanbul Prosecutor's Office's Anti-Smuggling Unit have detained an Azerbaijani citizen with a large shipment of gold. The detention took place near the Vadi İstanbul shopping center in the Sarıyer district, where a taxi was stopped. During the search, 70 kg of gold was found. The Azerbaijani citizen in the vehicle claimed ownership of the cargo and also stated that he was a diplomat. The investigation by the prosecutor's office is ongoing, reports Sabah newspaper. The media outlet does not disclose the name of the "diplomat," only his initials – M.G.Ş. The Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs has declined to comment on the situation.
Leave a review