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France makes efforts for peaceful settling of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

1 July 2015 17:48 (UTC+04:00)
France makes efforts for peaceful settling of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

By Sara Rajabova

A French envoy has said France puts efforts for the peaceful settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Pascal Monnier, the French ambassador to Azerbaijan believes that when the parties do not take steps, the process stops.

He made the preceding remarks commenting on the progress of negotiations to settle the long-standing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

“It is important that both parties take steps and set up claims. The Azerbaijani and Armenian sides should know that this point is very important and it is in everyone’s interests,” Monnier told Trend on July 1.

Recalling French President Francois Hollande’s visits to Azerbaijan in September 2014 and April 2015, Monnier said talks were held during the visits.

He noted that this issue was also discussed more than once with the participation of the OSCE Minsk Group during the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Baku on the occasion of the opening ceremony of the first European Games.

“Also, the Russian co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group traveled to France, where the discussions continued,” Monnier.

He stressed that the OSCE Minsk Group is trying to organize a meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents in order to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.

Recently, James Warlick, the Minsk Group’s U.S. co-chair also said the OSCE Minsk Group is working on organizing the meeting, noting that mediating a new meeting between Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan is the main call of the Minsk Group.

The latest meeting between Presidents Aliyev and Sargsyan took place in Paris, France in October of last year through the French president's initiative.

The Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents periodically meet to discuss the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the sidelines of negotiations. However, the talks have so far failed to produce any genuine results, given the Armenian side's inclination to remain belligerent rather than engage in peace-making.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since then, a lengthy war in the early 1990s displaced over one million Azerbaijanis and led Armenian armed forces to occupy over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.

Monnier further added that France has good relations with both Armenia and Azerbaijan and it intends to expand cooperation with these countries.

“France is home to half a million Armenians, who are very active. Azerbaijan is important to France as a strategic partner,” the ambassador said.

He recalled that every eight months, the French president meets with the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia.

“We want to expand relations in the sphere of economy, transport and others. At the same time we want to achieve development in the field of culture and education, we intend to create a French-Azerbaijani University in Baku,” Monnier said.

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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