Azernews.Az

BAKU – French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe’s remarks in the country`s parliament that ``nations` right to self-determination is the founding principle`` for settling the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh have drawn fire from Baku.

Azerbaijani Ambassador in Paris Elchin Amirbayov on Thursday sent a letter of protest to the French minister expressing Baku’s discontent with the remarks and demanding an explanation, according to the Azerbaijani embassy in France.

Amirbayov also requested a meeting with Juppe, but it has not yet taken place due to the minister’s foreign visits, the embassy said.

Juppe’s remarks came in response to a question asked in parliament by MP Francois Rochebloine, who queried how the principle of self-determination could be applied to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

Following the Azerbaijani embassy’s protest, the French foreign ministry issued a statement later on Thursday saying that France fully supports the Helsinki Final Act, as well as the statements of the presidents of France, Russia and the United States – the co-chairs of the mediating OSCE Minsk Group - made in 2009 and 2010.

The three leaders said in their joint statements, issued at the G8 summits at L'Aquila in July 2009 and at Muskoka in June 2010, that a solution of the Karabakh conflict must be based on a number of principles, including returning the Armenia-occupied territories surrounding Nagorno Karabakh to Azerbaijani control, an interim status for the Azerbaijani region, and determination of the future status of Nagorno Karabakh through "a legally binding expression of will" and the right of internally displaced persons and refugees to return home, and international guarantees of security, including peacekeeping operations.

The Helsinki Final Act envisions non-use of force, territorial integrity of states and self-determination of nations.

The French foreign ministry also voiced support for the Minsk Group co-chairs’ statement issued on Wednesday, saying it condemns the recent cease-fire violations in Karabakh.

The OSCE mediators’ statement voiced "deep concern" over the reports of cease-fire violations on the frontline before and after Saturday’s talks between the Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders in Sochi, Russia.

"Such senseless acts, if confirmed, would contravene the commitment of the parties to refrain from the use of force and to seek a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," the statement said.

Armenian troops on Tuesday killed a nine-year-old child with sniper bullets in Azerbaijan’s frontline Aghdam region. Baku condemned the killing, accusing Yerevan of provocations and attempts to derail peace talks.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a brutal war that ended with the signing of a fragile cease-fire in 1994. About 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory, including Nagorno Karabakh and seven surrounding regions, has been occupied by Armenian armed forces since the war. Peace talks have largely accomplished no result so far.

The status of the Nagorno Karabakh region has been a stumbling block in peace talks. Baku says the occupied districts must be freed and Azerbaijani refugees returned home, and only after that could the status of Nagorno Karabakh be determined within Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, while Armenia insists that self-determination is the core principle for a settlement of the dispute.