Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Baku has voiced concern over delay in the settlement of the long-standing Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Bahar Muradova said that despite the "appearance of work in this direction", there are no results.

According to Muradova, the OSCE is working to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, presents statements and holds consultations, but so far no actual results have been achieved. "Apparently, new perspectives are needed in order to obtain the result," she said.

Muradova was commenting on the activity of the OSCE, which deals with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution through the Minsk Group.

"Internal entities of the OSCE sometimes display a lack of coordination in their operations. In this case, there is a doubt in the organization's ability to resolve given issues. Therefore, the OSCE as an organization has to solve its internal problems," Muradova said.

The official said that new mechanisms have to be introduced to the entity to meet the new challenges of the times.

"One of the main activities of the OSCE is the prevention of conflicts and elimination of their consequences. Transformations require finding new directions, new mechanisms in this activity," Muradova said.

According to her, along with the ongoing negotiations within the OSCE, consideration of the Karabakh issue from other perspectives is quite possible.

"We consider it appropriate to bring this to the attention of other organizations, including the UN, EU, Council of Europe, along with the wider use of the capabilities of the OSCE Minsk Group and the inclusion of the issue in the agenda of parliaments of other countries," Muradova said.

Meanwhile, UK Deputy Foreign Minister Simon Fraser said in Yerevan that his country supports the settlement process of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group, Armenian media reported.

Fraser deems the negotiation process to be rather prolonged, but was not inclined to make any personal evaluations regarding the process.

"A solution has to be reached through negotiations, which are based on those principles which lead to the non-use of force, territorial integrity and expression of people's rights to self-determination. This is the process we support," he said.

According to Fraser, it is important to achieve progress by means of negotiating.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the early 1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.

A fragile ceasefire has been in place since 1994. However, a peace accord has never been signed and the dispute remains unresolved.

The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenia's withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but Armenia has not followed them to this day.

Mediators from Russia, France and the U.S. -- co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group -- have been brokering peace talks over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict since the 1994 ceasefire, but their efforts have not produced any result yet.

Peace negotiations are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles, also known as Basic Principles. The document envisions a return of the territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani control; determining the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh; a corridor linking Armenia to the region; and the right of all internally displaced persons to return home.