At UN, a world stage for disputes often out of the spotlight
UNITED NATIONS >> The Middle East. Trade tensions. Iran’s nuclear program. Venezuela’s power struggle. Civil wars in Syria and Yemen. Familiar flash points such as these got plenty of airtime at the U.N. General Assembly’s big annual gathering this week.
But some leaders used their time on the world stage to highlight international conflicts and disputes that don’t usually command the same global attention.
A look at some of the lessdiscussed controversies trying to be heard: an end to the NagornoKarabakh conflict.
At the General Assembly, Armenia and Azerbaijan accused one another of obstructing the path toward a peaceful settlement.
“No progress has been achieved” in the past year, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said Saturday, blaming “the apparent lack of genuine interest” on the Armenian side.
Days earlier, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian complained that Azerbaijan’s leaders “don’t want to seek any compromise.” and neighboring Mauritania together last December for the first time in six years, followed by a second meeting in March. But the issue of how to provide for self-determination remains a key sticking point.
The envoy, former German President Horst Kohler, resigned in May for health reasons.
At the General Assembly, Moroccan Prime Minister Saad-Eddine El Othmani said his country’s autonomy proposal “is the solution,” while Algerian Foreign Minister Sabri Boukadoum reiterated hopes for Western Sahara residents “to be able to exercise their legitimate right to self-determination.” continues to maintain more than 35,000 troops in the northern third of the island, which only Turkey recognizes as an independent state. The U.N. also has a peacekeeping force in Cyprus.
Tensions have ticked up lately, particularly over natural gas exploration in waters in the internationally recognized state’s exclusive economic zone. Turkey is also drilling there, saying it’s defending Turkish Cypriots’ rights to energy reserves.
On-and-off talks about reunification have spanned decades.
Greek Cypriots have rejected Turkish Cypriots’ demands for a permanent Turkish troop presence and veto power in government decisions in a future federated Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots, meanwhile, want parity in federal decision-making, believing they would otherwise be relegated to junior partners to the majority Greek Cypriots.
A U.N. envoy made a shuttle-diplomacy effort in recent weeks in hopes of paving the way for formal talks, and Anastasiades suggested in his General Assembly speech there was some agreement on starting points for potential discussion. But he also complained that Turkey’s drilling and other activities “severely undermine” the prospect of negotiations.