French MP calls for immediate resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
By Sara Rajabova
A member of the French National Assembly voiced his concern over the escalation of tension on the contact line between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops.
Jean-François Mancel submitted a request to the French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius in connection with ceasefire violation on the contact line, 'The European Azerbaijan Society' reported on August 15.
The request was sent after a trilateral meeting of the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian presidents in Sochi on August 10.
Mancel recalled that France, along with Russia and the United States, is one of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries, involved in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.
"I asked the question about the position of the French government in this regard and the actions planned to be made to speed up the conflict settlement process," he said, adding that as Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has stressed the conflict should be settled peacefully and through negotiations in line with the international laws.
Mancel is a member of the France-Azerbaijan Friendship Group of the National Assembly. He is also the president of the newly established Society of Friends of Azerbaijan.
The Armenian armed forces aggravated tensions along the frontline by attacking the Azerbaijani positions. Armenia began to escalate the tensions on the border areas on July 31. Sporadic fighting has continued ever since. Fourteen Azerbaijani servicemen were killed and several others injured during the clashes between two sides.
Armenia hasn't released the exact number of casualties yet.
For over two decades, Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in a conflict, which emerged after Armenia's territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor.
Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territories, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. A fragile ceasefire has been in place since 1994, but long-standing efforts by US, Russian and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on its pullout from the neighboring country's territories.