Azernews.Az

BAKU – Azerbaijan’s parliament speaker on Wednesday accused the Armenian lobby of delaying resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Ogtay Asadov said the Karabakh settlement is stalling due to a double standard approach to the issue by a number of international groups and interference by the Armenian community in the internal affairs of other countries. Asadov made the statement while hosting a delegation led by the chairman of the Czech Republic Senate’s committee on European Union affairs Ludek Sefzig, the Azerbaijani parliament said.

"Armenia doesn't want to accept the documents prepared by the [mediating] Minsk Group and the proposals accepted by Azerbaijan. A number of influential politicians and officials of international organizations, who are aware of the essence of the problem, prefer to remain neutral. But this situation can not last long. The international community must express a specific opinion," Asadov said.

A fragile ceasefire has been in place between Azerbaijan and Armenia since a brutal war in the 1990s that claimed some 30,000 lives and displaced about one million Azerbaijanis from their homes. Armenia continues to occupy Nagorno Karabakh and seven adjacent Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law. The ceasefire accord was signed in 1994, but the OSCE-brokered peace talks have been largely fruitless so far.