Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in focus of Baku-Paris talks
By Gunay Hasanova
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met with Harlem Desir, Secretary of State for European Affairs of France within his working visit to Strasburg.
The sides had comprehensive exchange of views on current status
of substantive negotiation process over the settlement of
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.
The sides stressed the importance of further acceleration of
substantive negotiation process.
Mammadyarov emphasized that Azerbaijan always supported substantive
and result oriented negotiations to achieve the soonest resolution
of the conflict.
The sides also expressed their satisfaction of the sustainable
development of the bilateral political, economic and cultural
relations between Azerbaijan and France.
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the 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 the resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign State with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of the 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 the tension high in the region.
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