‘HIGH TIME’ TO RESOLVE KARABAKH CONFLICT – OSCE

News.az
March 16 2010
Azerbaijan

Aliyev receives Joao Soares

The Karabakh conflict dominated discussions during the head of the OSCE
Parliamentary Assembly’s meetings with Azerbaijani leaders yesterday.

Joao Soares and his delegation met Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
yesterday. Aliyev said the visit created a good opportunity to extend
cooperation and discuss regional development.

Soares said effective discussions had been held with the the
Azerbaijani delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. He said was
impressed by the development in Azerbaijan and described Azerbaijan
as a model country in the efficient use of its natural resources.

The head of state said that not only Baku, but also all the regions
of Azerbaijan were developing rapidly. He said that the income from
major energy projects was fairly used, good investment conditions
had been created in the regions, the business environment was being
improved and successful reforms were being carried out in all spheres
of the economy. He said that even in a year of economic crisis the
country’s economy had grown 9.3 percent, which was a great statistic
by world standards.

Karabakh Joao Soares met members of Azerbaijan’s Karabakh community
during his visit to Baku and discussed solutions to the conflict.

‘The people displaced from Azerbaijan’s Nagorno Karabakh and
the adjacent regions must return to their native lands. This is
their sacred right,’ Soares said at the meeting, according to the
parliament’s press service.

The head of the Azerbaijani Community of the Nagorno-Karabakh Region
of the Azerbaijan Republic, Bayram Safarov, members Farhad Badalbayli
and Vagif Farzaliyev, MPs Rzayev and Havva Mammadova called on the
organization to work towards the restoration of the violated rights
of the refugees and IDPs (internally displaced persons).

The conflicting sides and international organizations should unite
their efforts in order to restore the violated rights of these people
and solve the conflict, Soares said.

He had been received earlier by Azerbaijan’s foreign minister
Elmar Mammadyarov. Their discussion focused on the solution to the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno Karabakh, the Foreign
Ministry’s press service reported.

Elmar Mammadyarov said Armenia had occupied Azerbaijan’s territory and
violated the norms and principles of international law. The minister
said first of all it was important to overcome the consequences of the
occupation. He said that the solution should come in stages. Armenian
armed forces should be withdrawn from the occupied land, normal living
conditions should be established there and communications opened,
IDPs should return home and then the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh
should be resolved, Mammadyarov said. These are the only conditions
for sustainable peace and security.

Joao Soares said he agreed with Azerbaijan’s approach and said that
it was high time to solve the conflict.

The sides also exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.

The speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament, Ogtay Asadov, also received
Soares and his delegation.

Asadov talked about Azerbaijan’s role in Europe’s energy security
and security.

‘The protracted conflicts in the region impede the region’s integration
into European structures and development and also pose threat to the
security of the South Caucasus. The August events in the region [the
Russian invasion of Georgia in August 2008] showed how dangerous
the protraction of conflicts can be. Armenia, which ignores the
resolutions and decisions on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict passed
by the UN Security Council and other international organizations,
continues to pursue an aggressive policy. Armenian people have become
hostage to the political ambitions of the diaspora,’ Asadov said.

‘Europe should make its choice, either choose development in the
region, or listen to the fables of the Armenian lobby. Azerbaijani
cultural monuments, clubs and libraries have been destroyed in
Nagorno-Karabakh for 20 years and the world community looks away.

Though the OSCE Minsk Group has been engaged in the solution
to the problem for 18 years, unfortunately no real results have
been achieved. We support the solution to the conflict within the
international legal norms based on countries’ territorial integrity,’
the parliamentary speaker continued.

Joao Soares said he had become better acquainted with the situation
during his visit to the South Caucasus and told Ogtay Asadov that he
would increase efforts to settle the problem.

‘The solution of conflicts is the demand of the day in terms of the
security and development of the region,’ he said.

The deputy speaker of parliament and head of the permanent delegation
to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Bahar Muradova, also met Joao
Soares.

Joao Soares was accompanied by Goran Lennmarker, the OSCE Parliamentary
Assembly’s special envoy on Karabakh.