April 29, 2021 - 13:27 AMT
OSCE role in Karabakh process is important, Blinken tells Aliyev

United States Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has noted the importance of continuing efforts by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in a phone call with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Wednesday, April 28.

According to a statement from the Department of State, Secretary Blinken underscored the importance of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

"The Secretary noted the importance of continuing efforts by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to negotiate a lasting political settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict benefiting all people in the region," the statement reads.

Aliyev, meanwhile, "expressed concerns" over U.S. President Joe Biden's recognition of the Armenian Genocide, a press release from the Azerbaijani presidency reveals.

In a statement published on the website of the White House, Biden made good on a campaign promise and became the first American President to use the term “Genocide” on the April 24 Remembrance Day to describe the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923.

On April 24, 1915, a large group of Armenian intellectuals was rounded up and assassinated in Constantinople by the Ottoman government. On April 24, Armenians worldwide commemorated the 106th anniversary of the Genocide which continued until 1923. Some three dozen countries, hundreds of local government bodies and international organizations have so far recognized the killings of 1.5 million Armenians as Genocide. Turkey denies to this day.