Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be resolved peacefully. This was the main point of a press conference held by the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Jean-Claude Mignon.

Mignon emphasized that the current situation must come to an end because it does not correspond to the spirit of the charter signed in 1949 by PACE.

He went on saying that in case of being elected as the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, he would put the resolving of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as one of his high priority.

" Armenia was the chair of PACE for six months, now it is Austria and then it will be Azerbaijan. I had hoped that both these countries would see this opportunity to find joint priorities for their respective chairmanships in particular to make commitments for the settlement for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," Mignon said.

He noted that Armenia's chairmanship took place in 2013 - during 50th anniversary of the Elysee treaty between France and Germany, which in fact turned two former enemies to close friends and allies.

"And I feel that if France and Germany could make the achievement, surely Armenia and Azerbaijan can have the same achievement," Mignon said.

He also expressed his concern over the recent tension on the contact line of the Armenian and Azerbaijani troops.

The Armenian armed forces still continue unceasingly firing at the Azerbaijani troops and the settlements near to frontline aiming to keep tension on the contact line.

On January 20, Armenian armed forces killed an officer of the Azerbaijani armed forces by sniper.

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 have not been enforced to this day.

Peace talks, 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.