France says committed to peaceful settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
By Sara Rajabova
France has said it is committed to a peaceful settlement of the long-standing Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.
According to French Ambassador to Azerbaijan Pascal Meunier, as a co-chair of the mediating OSCE Minsk Group France is very committed to seeking peaceful solutions for the conflict.
"France and Azerbaijan discuss both bilateral issues and Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement on the level of foreign ministers," he told media on June 3.
Meunier noted further, "Think tanks should think about the future of the region. Reports of think tanks on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the situation in the region which could be submitted to the governments of Azerbaijan and Armenia as well as the OSCE Minsk Group could positively affect a settlement of the conflict."
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. 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.
Russia, France and the U.S. have long been working to broker a solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through the Minsk Group, but their efforts have been largely fruitless so far.
Peace talks 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.