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Expert: France interested in Karabakh problem's peaceful resolution

26 April 2018 18:20 (UTC+04:00)
Expert: France interested in Karabakh problem's peaceful resolution

By Rashid Shirinov

The recent statement by the French leader Emmanuel Macron shows that the country, as an international mediator in the OSCE Minsk Group, is interested in an early resolution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through negotiations, French political expert Vienne Nasiri told Day.az on April 25.

He was commenting on the statement Macron made in his congratulatory letter to President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on the occasion of his victory in the presidential election. In the letter, the French leader once again noted that his country will do its utmost for settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through peaceful negotiations.

Nasiri noted that the unresolved conflict poses risks and threats not only to the conflicting parties, but also to the whole region.

“Like many European countries cooperating with Azerbaijan, France considers it necessary to resolve this problem peacefully. To do this, both sides should be prepared for substantive negotiations and find a certain compromise,” the expert noted.

He mentioned that the three OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries – the United States, Russia and France – will make efforts in this direction, but the positions of the parties to the conflict are primarily important for achieving progress on this complex issue.

“Negotiations should be based on the principles of international law, and the parties, first of all Armenia, must reckon with this important fact. Armenia has already violated the principles of international law by occupying foreign territories, which was not permissible,” Nasiri said, stressing that Armenia should comply with the basic requirements specified in the UN Security Council resolutions and start de-occupation of the seized territories.

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.

Until now, Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.

In the interview, Nasiri also attached great importance to the existing relations between France and Azerbaijan, assessing them as friendly and promising.

“Azerbaijan is attractive to France as a developed and civilized country that has proven itself to Europe as a guarantor of energy security and a reliable partner,” Nasiri mentioned. “These two facts are very important in order to continue mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation, which is in the interests of both France and Azerbaijan.”

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

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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