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Russia's increased efforts for Nagorno-Karabakh talks hailed

14 July 2016 15:37 (UTC+04:00)
Russia's increased efforts for Nagorno-Karabakh talks hailed

By Rashid Shirinov

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's visit to Baku was appraised in Azerbaijan's political circles, which believes it to give a tremendous impetus to the settlement of the long-simmering Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Russia's high interest in this question as the co-chair of the OSCE Minsk group, meetings of the presidents and the expected visit of the country’s President Vladimir Putin to Azerbaijan, is considered as positive steps in the further resolution of the long-term conflict.

The visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to Baku is a very positive development and gives certain hopes in connection with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, deputy executive secretary of the ruling New Azerbaijan party and Member of Parliament Siyavush Novruzov told Trend July 13.

In the meantime, Sergey Lavrov stressed the usefulness of the last talks on Nagorno-Karabakh in St. Petersburg, Vienna and his meeting with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev on July 11.

“It is necessary to be careful towards those “sprouts of hope” so that not to hamper the progress. But there are grounds to presume that currently we are closer to success than ever before,” Russian Minister said at the press conference in Baku.

Novruzov also mentioned the April clashes showed that the conflict between the countries is not frozen and may flare up at any time. “April battles has shown once again that Armenia lags behind Azerbaijan and is not able to resist it,” the MP said.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Nevertheless, Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.

During the battles, Armenia did not get support from the international community -- international organizations and worldwide countries recognize the occupation of Azerbaijani territories.

“The conflict remains unresolved for more than 20 years. If the conflict is not resolved in a short time, Azerbaijan could use other ways. Azerbaijan is a strong state with a strong army. But the government wants a peaceful solution to the conflict,” Novruzov stated.

Azerbaijan and Armenia for over two decades have been locked in conflict, which emerged over Armenian territorial claims. Since the 1990s war, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions. The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal, but they have not been enforced to this day.

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

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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