Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe continues talks on arranging meetings between the Azerbaijani and Armenian delegations at the organization, PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon told a news conference on Monday.

Mignon said he had expressed his view on the matter at a meeting of the Bureau on the same day.

"I want to say to our Azerbaijani as well as Armenian friends that soon they will take on greater responsibility," Mignon said, noting that the two countries will preside over the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

According to him, after Austria, Azerbaijan will assume the chairmanship of the Committee.

"Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the organization, founded in 1949, imposes great responsibility on both countries....Chairmanship of two members of the Council of Europe which are in a state of war in the Committee of Ministers is quite a paradoxical phenomenon. Questions arise about the inadmissibility of this, whether it is an obstacle or an opportunity for the Council. I believe that if we do it wisely and can control the chairmanship of the two countries in the Committee of Ministers, then it could be a unique chance, however, with the only condition that the two countries will take advantage of this chance," Mignon said.

Mignon said he will continue the dialogue with both delegations.

"I will continue discussions with the delegations of both countries. Discussions will also be held this week. Of course, in order to progress in the discussions it is necessary to bring together both delegations in corpore as soon as possible," Mignon said.

Azerbaijan and Armenia for over two decades have been locked in conflict, which emerged over Armenian territorial claims. Since a lengthy war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions. The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenia's withdrawal, but they have not been enforced to this day.

A precarious cease-fire was signed in 1994. However, units of the Armenian armed forces commit armistice breaches on the frontline almost every day.

Peace talks brokered by OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs representing the United States, Russia and France have been largely fruitless so far.