Minsk Group co-chair France seeks regional stability - envoy
By Sara Rajabova
OSCE mediators brokering settlement to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh will visit the region in late November, Trend news agency quoted French Ambassador to Azerbaijan Pascal Meunier as saying on Monday.
Meunier told journalists that France, as an OSCE Minsk Group co-chair, is seeking a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and noted that his country aims to achieve stability in the South Caucasus region.
In early fall, the Minsk Group co-chairs -- Jacques Faure of France, Robert Bradtke of the United States and Igor Popov of Russia -- met with the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers to discuss the situation on the contact line of the two countries' troops in light of frequent ceasefire violations.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 over Armenia's territorial claims against Azerbaijan. The ensuing war claimed some 30,000 lives and displaced up to a million Azerbaijanis. Since a ceasefire signed in 1994, Armenia has occupied about 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region, despite the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions urging its pullout. Peace talks have been largely fruitless so far.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan started his official visit to France on Monday, Russian state news agency ITAR-TASS reported, and is expected to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement with President Francois Hollande.
In the meantime, the Azerbaijani and Turkish diaspora organizations intend to hold a joint protest outside the Armenian embassy in France on Monday. The Azerbaijanis who were killed during the Karabakh war will be commemorated during the picket. Protesters will voice slogans calling on the world to fairly assess the long-standing conflict, as well as analyze the threat of Armenia's policy of aggression posed to peace and security in the volatile region.
The protest, which is to be joined by Azerbaijani diaspora organizations operating in Europe, aims at protesting the France visit of Serzh Sargsyan, who was one of the organizers of the Khojaly genocide perpetrated against Azerbaijani civilians during the Karabakh war and was closely involved in the Armenian invasion of Azerbaijani land.
613 people, including 63 children, 106 women and 70 elderly, were killed during the massacre in Khojaly, committed by Armenian forces on February 25-26, 1992. A total of 1,000 civilians were disabled. Eight families were annihilated, 130 children lost one parent and 25 lost both. Moreover, 1,275 innocent people were taken hostage, while the fate of 150 remains unknown.