Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 13
By Anakhanum Khidayatova - Trend:
While working with the OSCE Minsk Group, Azerbaijan is practically face-to-face with a pro-Armenian institution, Aurelia Grigoriu, the chairperson of the Public Chamber of Moldova, said in an exclusive interview with Trend Nov. 13.
Grigoriu said that she negatively assesses the OSCE Minsk Group's activity. She said that the OSCE Minsk Group must include the countries that are neutral towards Azerbaijan and Armenia.
"The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen must consider the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict from the viewpoint of the international law, which requires the immediate liberation of the Azerbaijani territories," she said.
Grigoriu said that the OSCE Minsk Group fully discredited itself long ago.
"I think that the OSCE Minsk simply delays the process for the illegal units to fortify their positions in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan in favor of Armenia," she said.
She said that one of the principles of international law is the right of nations to self-determination, which Armenia constantly waves like a flag.
"But what kind of referendum in Karabakh one can talk about if all Azerbaijanis and other peoples living in Nagorno-Karabakh were expelled or killed?" she said. "Who will vote in a referendum - those who remained in the occupied territories, or those who then populated those territories? Now only Armenians live there, and it is natural that they will vote for unification with Armenia."
Commenting on the forthcoming meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Grigoriu said that the meeting will take place if the leadership of Azerbaijan considers this meeting necessary and useful to promote the settlement of the conflict.
She said that this is not a situation when one has to say something, this is a situation when one needs to first liberate the occupied territories, and then to negotiate, perhaps, about some relief regarding recovering the damage from the aggressor inflicted throughout all these years. But the first prerequisite should become the liberation of the occupied territories.
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.
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