Azernews.Az

The Azerbaijani parliament has to pass a decision to suspend the OSCE Minsk Group's work aiming to find a settlement to Azerbaijan's conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, an MP told a parliamentary sitting on Monday.

International organizations, including the Minsk Group, adhere to double standards on the issue of the release of Ramil Safarov -- an Azerbaijani officer who was transferred to his home country after being jailed for killing an Armenian officer while in a state of emotional distress in Hungary in 2004, Fazail Aghamali said at the first sitting of the Milli Majlis fall session.

"These organizations, which always turn a blind eye to the crimes of Armenians against Azerbaijanis, exaggerate the issue of the release of the Azerbaijani officer, who has already served sufficient punishment. The OSCE Minsk Group adheres to an unfair position in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," the lawmaker said, stressing that the OSCE and a number of other international organizations have still not recognized Armenia as an aggressor state.

"During the past 20 years, the OSCE Minsk Group has not made any progress in the conflict settlement. That is why I suggest that we end its efforts," Aghamali noted.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a precarious cease-fire in 1994. Armenian armed forces have since occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno Karabakh, defying international law. The Minsk Group-brokered peace talks have been largely fruitless so far.

The Minsk Group is a group of OSCE member states whose co-chairmen -- Jacques Faure of France, Igor Popov of Russia and Robert Bradtke of the U.S. -- are heading the process of a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The purpose of this team of diplomats is to provide a permanent forum for negotiations on a settlement of the crises based on the principles, responsibilities and OSCE statements.

The mediators regularly visit the region to hold high-level negotiations between the parties. They also hold meetings with the chairman and other members of the OSCE Minsk Group to prepare a report assessing the negotiations.

The Minsk Group includes Belarus, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Finland, Turkey as well as Armenia and Azerbaijan along with co-chairing countries.