Organization of Azerbaijan-Northern-Baltic Cooperation joins Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Platform

Organization of Azerbaijan-Northern-Baltic Cooperation joins Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Platform
# 01 March 2017 10:00 (UTC +04:00)

Organization of Azerbaijan-Northern-Baltic Cooperation has joined the Armenia-Azerbaijan Platform for Peace.

APA presents the statement made by the organization in this respect

“We are in favor of a peaceful solution to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We reiterate our respect and support to territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia, and internationally recognized borders of both countries. We realize the importance of implementation of relevant resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council, as well as the resolutions and decisions of other international organizations. Therefore, we note the importance of the liberation of seven districts adjacent to the Nagorno-Karabakh region from occupation, and determining the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh as Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Republic within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. We stress that it is an important starting point for long-standing peace and step-by-step settlement of the conflict.

Recognizing the importance of peaceful resolution of the conflict, and supporting this activity, We, as Organization of Azerbaijan-Northern-Baltic Cooperation, hereby express our support for this initiative and join the Armenia-Azerbaijan Platform for Peace which is aimed at contributing to a peaceful resolution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and peace in South Caucasus.”

For the purposes of contributing to a peaceful settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Armenia-Azerbaijan Platform for Peace 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.

Nagorno Garabagh

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