Karabakh conflict, Iran on Hillary Clintons Baku talks agenda

June 6, 2012 - 17:04 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Azerbaijan on Wednesday, June 6 for talks aimed at strengthening relations with the official Baku, amid a flare-up of violence on its border with Armenia, AFP reported.

Clinton arrived after gunbattles on the ex-Soviet states' mutual border this week killed eight soldiers -- five Azerbaijanis and three Armenians -- in one of the deadliest outbursts of violence in months.

Although this week's clashes erupted well to the north of the region, Clinton was expected to reiterate a call for both sides to end the violence.

"The use of force will not resolve the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and therefore force must not be used," she said during a visit to Yerevan on Monday, pledging to deliver the same message to Azerbaijani leaders in Baku.

After arriving in Baku, Clinton immediately went into talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

Clinton planned to visit an oil and gas trade exposition being held in Baku, highlighting the $8 billion that U.S. energy companies have invested in Azerbaijan since independence following the break-up of the Soviet Union.

Also expected to come up in her talks is Iran, which shares a border with Azerbaijan. Although both countries are predominantly Shiite Muslim, there are political tensions between Azerbaijan's secular leadership and Iran's Islamic regime.