Greece fully supports Minsk Group to resolve Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
By Sara Rajabova
Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos has said that his country fully supports efforts of the Minsk Group toward resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
As a member of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and as the country currently holding the EU Presidency, Greece advocates a solution that is acceptable to both of the parties concerned in the dispute, Venizelos said in an interview with Trend Agency on January 21.
Venizelos said the peaceful resolution of disputes is a fundamental principle of Greek foreign policy, and it is also a European principle, adding this means resolutions that respect international law and national sovereignty.
European Parliament adopted in October 2013, a resolution which confirmed that Armenian troops have occupied Azerbaijani territories and urged to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis of UN Security Council resolutions and the L'Aquila statement of the mediating countries' leaders in 2009.
Venizelos went on to say that the EU has a special interest in the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, and this interest was reflected in the appointment of a European Union Special Representative (EUSR) for the Southern Caucasus.
"In this context, the EUSR can act in a supporting and complementary role to the OSCE Minsk Group to defuse tension and create an environment conducive to progress towards resolution of the dispute," Venizelos said.
He noted within both the OSCE and the EU, Greece pursues its role as an honest and impartial facilitator backing all initiatives aimed at resolution of the dispute.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the early 1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.
The UN Security Council's four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal have not been enforced to this day.
Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. through the OSCE Minsk Group, are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles. The negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.