PACE SUPPORTS MINSK GROUP ACTIVITIES ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT SOLUTION

Trend
April 13 2010
Azerbaijan

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) supports the
activities of the OSCE Minsk Group to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said the Chairman of the Assembly Movlud
Chavushoglu upon his arrival in Baku on April 13.

Chavushoglu is on his first official visit to Azerbaijan after his
appointment to this post last year.

He said that the PACE will help solve the problems that exist in the
member countries of the Assembly, including Azerbaijan and Armenia.

"Our goal is to solve the frozen conflicts and assist in solving the
problems existing between the countries [members of the PACE]. So after
Azerbaijan, I will leave for Armenia," Chavushoglu told journalists.

In Baku and Yerevan the head of the Assembly will discuss the
Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and then will go
to Russia.

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.

Chavushoglu’s visit will last by April 16, during which he will meet
with members of the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE and representatives
of civil society and make a speech at the Azerbaijan University of
Languages. On April 15 Chavushoglu will visit the second largest city
of the country – Ganja, where he will meet with representatives of
local authorities.