Karabakh conflict discussed with EU officials
By Abdul Kerimkhanov
Azerbaijan's Deputy Defense Minister, Lieutenant General Kerim Veliyev and EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Toivo Klaar have discussed the current situation on the line of contact of the troops of Azerbaijan and Armenia and on the state border, according to the information published on the Defense Ministry's official website.
He has once again stressed that Armenia is occupying 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally-recognized territories. He added that the negotiation process remains to be ineffective so far.
Veliyev pointed out that Armenia's destructive position is the main obstacle in achieving progress in the negotiations on the conflict settlement.
In turn, Klaar noted the importance of an early and peaceful resolution of the conflict to ensure stability in the South Caucasus region. He stressed that the EU is a supporter of continuing negotiations in this sphere.
In 2013, the European Parliament adopted a resolution which confirmed that Armenian troops have occupied Azerbaijani territories and called for resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis of UN Security Council resolutions and the L'Aquila statement of the mediating countries' leaders in 2009.
According to changes to the resolution, the European parliament recalled its position that the occupation of the territory of an Eastern Partnership member by another member state violates the fundamental principles and objectives of the EU program.