Major German youth group passes paper on Karabakh
By Sabina Idayatova
A document on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has been adopted at a conference of the youth organization of the ruling German coalition, which was held in Berlin on October 5-7, the European Azerbaijan Society told Trend news agency.
Junge Union of the ruling Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union coalition includes 130,000 people and is the largest political youth organization in Europe.
The document said Armenia's territorial claims after its independence from the USSR resulted in a brutal war in 1992, which killed over 25,000 Azerbaijanis. Furthermore, more than one million Azerbaijanis became refugees and internally displaced persons in their native land as a result of occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding seven regions by Armenia. None of the international organizations have recognized the self-proclaimed "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" so far. Germany and the European Union did not recognize the illegitimate "parliamentary elections" held in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2010, Junge Union said.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton labeled the so-called "presidential elections" held in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2012 as a threat to a peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.
The document stressed that Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions urging a withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the territories of Azerbaijan. The UN General Assembly supported this position in 2008.
According to the document, Junge Union demanded that the German government intensify international efforts within the OSCE, EU and UN to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
"The Armenian government should immediately put an end to the occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and other Azerbaijani territories. Nagorno-Karabakh is an inseparable part of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, inviolability of its borders and the security of population settled in the borderline regions should be provided promptly and without restrictions," the statement said.
Tale Heydarov, chairman of the European Azerbaijan Society, said in his speech that one of the main objectives of the organization is to conduct outreach and public awareness work on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and to contribute to the conflict settlement by peaceful means.
Germany supports all efforts directed at a peaceful resolution of the lingering Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between the two South Caucasus countries.
German Bundestag adopted a document on the Khojaly genocide and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in February this year. The document cites the importance of recognition of the massacre committed by Armenian armed forces in the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly on February 26, 1992 as bloody acts against civilians.