Baku, Azerbaijan, July 6
By Anahanum Khidayatova - Trend:
Azerbaijanis will return to their historical lands, including Yerevan, deputy speaker of the Milli Majlis (Parliament) of the Republic of Azerbaijan, head of the delegation of the Azerbaijani Parliament to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Bahar Muradova said July 6.
She made the remarks speaking at the jubilee session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Helsinki.
She went on to add that the OSCE and the Parliamentary Assembly should act to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict now, until it's too late.
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 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
The deputy speaker said that millions of people driven away from their homes continue to suffer from conflicts, and this requires urgent actions.
"Today, there are attempts to move away from the international system of relations within the framework of the OSCE, there is a desire to divide the OSCE regions into zones of influence of Euro-Atlantic structures virtually opposing each other," she said. "The absence of solutions to these problems could jeopardize the viability of the organization."
"Accordingly, we must unite our efforts for an early settlement of conflicts, restoring good neighborly relations based on respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity," she said. "We must take practical steps to change the status quo in the conflict zones."
The 24th annual session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly takes place in Helsinki, Finland on July 5-9, 2015.
The session will culminate in the adoption of the 2015 Helsinki Declaration, which will contain the Assembly's wide-ranging policy recommendations for the OSCE and its participating states in the fields of political affairs, economics, the environment and human rights.
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