Confidential
The White House, Washington
April 28, 1992, Oval Office
President Bush meeting with President Turgut Ozal
Presisent Ozal: I have an idea. Nagorno Karabakh is 80 percent Armenian and 20 percent Azeri. They could swap territory, with Nagorno Karabakh going to Armenia and Azerbaijan getting the piece of Armenia that separates the two parts of Azerbaijan. Stalin created the borders down here. He divided Azerbaijan to give it to the Armenians to buy them off.
Secretary Baker: What would happen to the Armenians in the southern part that you would give to Azerbaijan?
Presisent Ozal: All together, not more than 50,000 people would have to be moved. Otherwise this war will continue forever… They [Azerbaijan] need a corridor. This would also benefit Armenia. Turkey has good relations with Armenia, and Armenia needs good relations with Turkey. There is another reason to do this. The Central Asian republics need a connection to Europe. The new Russians want to be like the Tzarist Russians. They want all roads to go to Moscow… With my plan, there could be a connection through Azerbaijan to Turkey and to the Europe. These states need lines of communication to Europe that don’t go through Russia.
Secretary Baker: Would the Azeris be interested? Let us know. We might be willing to follow up.
In picture – Ozal and Bush
