Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is resolvable and should be settled peacefully, former President of Latvia Vaira Vike Freiberga told journalists in Baku, on September 5.

Latvia's ex-president is on a visit to Azerbaijan to participate at a joint high level meeting of Nizami Ganjavi International Centre and Club of Madrid, which was organized with the support of the State Committee for Work with Diaspora.

According to Vike Freiberga, the prime direction of the work of the Nizami Ganjavi International Centre is the propaganda of ideas of tolerance and co-existence.

"The conflicts harass society. Refugees cannot return their homeland for years," she said.

Talking about the existing conflicts in the region and their settlement, Vike Freiberga said that one of the main topics of today's meeting is the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh 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 Armenian withdrawal, but they have not been enforced to date.

"Many in Latvia used to say the country doesn't have any chance to restore its independence. However, this happened when the USSR collapsed, and many things changed and borders appeared, though there were none previously. Conflicts can be resolved when nations understand how much they lose due to them. The conflict is resolvable and it should be done peacefully," Latvia's ex-president said.

She also added that Azerbaijan has always been a reliable friend of Latvia.

Vike Freiberga noted that Azerbaijani and Latvian officials and businessmen organize mutual visits. She pointed out that there are enough favorable prospects to develop various spheres between the two countries.

The Nizami Ganjavi International Center (NGIC) and the Club de Madrid opened a High Level Preparatory Meeting for the "Shared Societies Forum 2014" to be held in Baku next year.

The event, supported by the Azerbaijan State Committee for the Work on Diaspora, is attended by former heads of state and government of Latvia, Finland, the Netherlands, Sri Lanka and officials of some influential international organizations.

The two-day meeting will debate preparatory actions for the forthcoming Forum, and also discuss settlement of the conflicts in the South Caucasus, involvement of women in active social life, intercultural and interfaith dialogue, the Millennium Development Program after 2015 and other topics.

NGIC and Club de Madrid also plan to organize a Board Meeting. The event will see the adoption of an appeal to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and the UN General Assembly.