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Latvian ex-president: Situation in Caucasus can affect whole world

17 March 2017 16:35 (UTC+04:00)
Latvian ex-president: Situation in Caucasus can affect whole world

By Rashid Shirinov

A problem of unresolved conflict remains in Azerbaijan for many years, said Vaira Vike-Freiberga, the former Latvian President and co-chair of Nizami Ganjavi International Center.

Vike-Freiberga, talking to reporters on the sidelines of the 5th Global Baku Forum on March 17, noted that the situation in China, Europe and the Caucasus can always affect the rest of the world.

“The world today is very global and problems in one part of the world can influence processes in its another part,” the ex-president said.

Vaira Vike-Freiberga added that the participants of the Baku Forum discuss all issues of concern to humanity.

“We are looking for solutions to world problems in Baku, bearing in mind that a problem of unresolved conflict remains in Azerbaijan itself for many years,” the ex-President said.

Former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski also touched upon the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in his interview to reporters on the sidelines of the Baku forum.

“The international community must do everything in its power to ensure that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is resolved and make efforts to ensure that the four UN resolutions on the conflict are fulfilled, since this is the first step to resolve the conflict,” he said.

Former Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Apas Jumagulov, who also participates in the forum, noted that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be resolved through peaceful negotiations and added that everything possible should be done to resolve this conflict.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan's territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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