EMBASSY: FRANCE TO PRESERVE NEUTRALITY WITH REGARDS TO AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIA
Trend
Feb 16 2010
Azerbaijan
France, as a mediator in the process of peaceful settlement of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, attaches great importance to the
preservation of neutrality with regards to Azerbaijan and Armenia,
and any item of signed memorandum on military cooperation between
France and Armenia does not cast doubt on this neutrality, the French
Embassy in Azerbaijan reported
Defence ministers of Armenia and France inked a memorandum on military
cooperation in Paris, Feb.10.
The paper approves subjects of cooperation between the defence
ministries of two countries, embassy said
France offers Azerbaijan to sign the similar document, the report said
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. –
are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the
occupied territories.