Nagorno Garabagh

An introductory meeting between the Delegation of the European Union to Azerbaijan and the Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Platform was held on March 1st, the Platform's press service tols APA.

Suzan Jaginyan, cocoordinator of Peace Platform from Armenia, expressed her gratitude to the guests for the visit. Then, Jaginyan informed the guests about the Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Platform, stressing the importance of international support to the process of peace-building. Susan Jaginyan stated that the nations of Armenia and Azerbaijan are tired of the conflict that has been lasting for more than 25 years. The nations want to live in peace and tranquility. Cocoordinator of the Peace Platform from Azerbaijan Orkhan Nabiyev provided the guests with information about the Platform's main goals, principles and future plans. Moreover, Orkhan Nabiyev stressed the role of citizen diplomacy of the European Union regarding the resolution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno Karabakh conflict as well as the importance of cooperation in this field.

The First Counselor of the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan Mr. Denis Daniilidis underlined the importance of people to people contacts between Armenia and Azerbaijan, as prerequisites for a peaceful settlement. Continuing aggressive rhetoric does not contribute to creating a better understanding between the two nations. The EU has been supporting a series of confidence building measures through EPNK project. Stressing that a peaceful solution to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict will lead to the development of the entire region, Daniilidis appreciated the activity of Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Platform and its potential future contribution in this field. In the end, the guests thanked the coordinators of Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Platform and wished the Platform success.

Coordinators of the Platform expressed their gratitude for their advice.

For the purposes of contributing to a peaceful settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Platform was established on December 6, 2016. The Platform is an initiative of the citizens of Azerbaijan and Armenia who wish to contribute to the peaceful settlement of the conflict.

The initiative on the creation of the Platform has generated the interest of the international community as well as attracted the high level of public attention in both conflicting states. A large number of well-known experts highly appreciated this initiative and stressed the very special role of the above-mentioned peacekeeping initiative in the process of the peaceful settlement of the conflict.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict entered its modern phase when the Armenian SRR made territorial claims against the Azerbaijani SSR in 1988.

A fierce war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. As a result of the war, Armenian armed forces occupied some 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory which includes Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts (Lachin, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Gubadli and Zangilan), and over a million Azerbaijanis became refugees and internally displaced people.

The military operations finally came to an end when Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in Bishkek in 1994.

Dealing with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the OSCE Minsk Group, which was created after the meeting of the CSCE (OSCE after the Budapest summit held in Dec.1994) Ministerial Council in Helsinki on 24 March 1992. The Group’s members include Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belarus, Finland and Sweden.

Besides, the OSCE Minsk Group has a co-chairmanship institution, comprised of Russian, the US and French co-chairs, which began operating in 1996.

Resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 of the UN Security Council, which were passed in short intervals in 1993, and other resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly, PACE, OSCE, OIC, and other organizations require Armenia to unconditionally withdraw its troops from Nagorno-Karabakh.