The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis, expressed hope today that the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict would make further progress towards a peaceful settlement, and urged them to implement fully the provisions of the ceasefire, including pulling back snipers from the front lines. READ MORE

The nearly year-long negotiations between Armenia and Turkey look set to prove fruitless after Ankara has revived its long-standing linkage between the normalization of bilateral ties and a resolution of the Karabakh conflict. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly made clear this month that his government will not establish diplomatic relations with Yerevan and re-open the Turkish-Armenian border without Azerbaijan's consent. In Armenia and especially amongst its worldwide diaspora, meanwhile, there are growing calls for President Serzh Sarkisian to abandon the Western-backed talks. READ MORE