Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Germany is ready to continue its efforts towards finding a solution to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, a Bundestag member has said, according to the European Azerbaijan Society (TEAS).

"This will also be applied in the context of foreign policy cooperation with the European Union and the OSCE," said Kai Wegener, a member of the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Socialist Union (CDU/CSU) faction.

Wegener emphasized that Germany supports the UN Security Council resolutions on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"Armenia must withdraw its armed forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. The UN has demanded this for 20 years, and this is also the EU's position," he said.

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's four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory have not been enforced to this day.

According to Wegener, during so-called presidential elections in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh last year, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton declared that Europe did not recognize their results.

"The rights of refugees for repatriation are stipulated in the resolutions of the UN Security Council. If the occupation of Azerbaijani territory comes to an end, the IDPs can go back," he said.

The German MP noted that the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and return of the occupied territories would be an important step towards establishing security and stability in the whole Caucasus region.

"But the first step should come from the conflict parties. They must create a favorable climate for successive negotiations. First and foremost, Armenia must finally meet the demands of the UN Security Council. However, if unilateral measures like the opening of the Khojaly airport in Nagorno-Karabakh continue, achieving a result will be a difficult task," Wegener said.

Peace talks aimed at resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. through the OSCE Minsk Group are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles. The negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.

Wegener also said Germany was very interested in strengthening the regional role of Azerbaijan, adding that his country was promoting Azerbaijan in organizations like the EU and NATO.