Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijani deputy parliamentary speaker Bahar Muradova has said no results have been achieved in talks on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict this year, despite hopes, but expects redoubling of efforts to resolve the long-lasting dispute in 2013.

"I am hopeful for an increase of efforts in this direction in 2013 as the official policy of the co-chairs [of the OSCE Minsk Group mediating the peace process], the countries involved in the process and Azerbaijan, points to the possibility of more active efforts in this direction next year," the deputy speaker said Friday, according to Trend news agency.

Muradova said that in any case, Azerbaijan will be active in this regard and the country will take steps for more regular discussion of the problem and a change of the status quo by availing of the opportunities offered by its membership in the UN Security Council.

The Karabakh conflict emerged over Armenia's territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. A fragile ceasefire has been in place since 1994, but long-standing efforts by US, Russian and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far. Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on its pullout from the neighboring country's territories.

Muradova also said 2012 was a very successful year in the history of Azerbaijan as the political, economic and social life of the country as well as Azerbaijan's foreign policy were remembered with significant success.

"We achieved this success as a result of the policy pursued by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev," she said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with Interfax news agency that his country will continue making an effort on the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"Russia will continue its active efforts for a political resolution of the conflicts in the CIS area, and above all, the Nagorno-Karabakh and Transnistria conflicts," Russian Foreign Ministry's website quoted Lavrov as saying on Friday.

Besides, the Nagorno-Karabakh problem was one of the main issues in the discussions between Russian deputy FM Grigory Karasin and Turkish ambassador in Moscow, Aydin Sezgin.