By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Armenia is using the Organization of La Francophonie for its political purposes, Spokesperson of Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry Leyla Abdullayeva said.

"The presentation of the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan at the Pavilion of Armenia in the “Village de la Francophonie”, opened in Yerevan on October 9 of this year as part of the 17th Summit of the Francophonie Organization in Armenia is another provocative step of Armenia serving its occupation policy," she said.

"We would like to emphasize that these acts of Armenia that committed military aggression and occupation against Azerbaijan grossly violate the norms and principles of international law, the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act and at the same time contradict with the Charter of the Organization of La Francophonie, the goals and objectives of the Organization.

"Armenia's attempts to politicize the agenda of the Organization of La Francophonie are vivid evidence of its intentions to camouflage the occupation and aggression policy of this country, as well as to undermine the efforts for peaceful settlement of the conflict made by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, including France, which is the initiator of the Organization of La Francophonie."

These actions of Armenia also contradict the statute, goals and intentions of the Francophonie Organization, the Foreign Ministry stressed.

Francophonie Organization is an international organization representing countries and regions where French is customary language, where a significant proportion of the population are francophones (French speakers) or where there is a notable affiliation with French culture.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 pct of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.