Azernews.Az

By Rashid Shirinov

The issue of frozen conflicts, including the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the ineffectiveness of the OSCE Minsk Group in resolving it, was raised at the 27th annual session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly ongoing in Berlin.

When addressing the session, OSCE PA Vice-President, Azerbaijani MP Azay Guliyev noted the need for the OSCE’s unconditional support for the territorial integrity of its member states and decisive non-admission of the occupation of the territory of one state by another state.

In this context, Guliyev noted the inadmissibility of applying double standards. He considered it necessary to convene the Minsk Conference, at which a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict could be found in a much shorter time than the Minsk Group is trying to do.

Deputy Foreign Minister of Italy Guglielmo Picchi, representing the Italian OSCE chairmanship, assured the session participants of Italy’s readiness to use all the opportunities and mechanisms available to achieve progress in the settlement of the protracted conflicts.

He added that Guliyev’s proposal to convene the Minsk Conference in order to advance the negotiation process was taken into account.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Until now, Armenia controls fifth part of Azerbaijan’s territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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