Salber: EU ready to contribute to intensification of Karabakh talks
By Rashid Shirinov
The EU recognizes the leading role of the OSCE Minsk Group in the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Herbert Salber said in Yerevan on April 25.
He added that the EU is ready to contribute to the intensification of negotiations in this format.
Earlier, during his visit to Azerbaijan, Salber noted that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be solved in a peaceful way, without military means. A political settlement is possible if the ceasefire is respected, he stressed.
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.
While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign state with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.
Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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