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FM Mammadyarov: Dialogue must be established between Armenian and Azerbaijani communities of Nagorno-Karabakh Â

20 February 2018 15:49 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov received a delegation led by EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Toivo Klaar on Feb. 20.

During the meeting, the sides discussed the current state of relations between Azerbaijan and the European Union and expressed satisfaction with the development of cooperation, the Foreign Ministry told APA.

Establishing a dialogue mechanism between the European Union and Azerbaijan in the field of security and transport, along with the energy sector, was considered as an important step in the development of cooperation. The sides touched upon the negotiations on the Partnership Agreement between Azerbaijan and the European Union.

Briefing his counterpart about the current state of negotiation process on settlement of Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Mammadyarov stated that the conflict must be resolved in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and the Helsinki Final Act, on the basis of territorial integrity, sovereignty and internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan.

Mammadyarov noted the importance of establishing a dialogue between the Armenian and Azerbaijani communities of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan in the process of conflict resolution and said that Armenia has always blocked such initiatives.

The sides discussed other issues of mutual interest at the meeting.

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.