Azerbaijan, Baku, 21 January / Trend corr. I.Alizadeh / The Azerbaijani and Armenian MPs will meet in Strasburg. "The current situation around the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, issues on the implementation of the resolution passed by PACE concerning the conflict, will be discussed at the session," MP Samad Seyidov, the head of the Azerbaijani Delegation to Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe and chairman of the permanent parliamentary commission on international relations and inter-parliamentary ties, stated in an interview with Trend on 21 January.
The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began in 1988, due to the Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since 1992, the Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20% of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven neighbouring districts. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement which ended the active hostilities. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group ( Russia, France, and the US) are currently holding the peaceful negotiations.
In January 2005, PACE passed Resolution 1416 connected with Nagorno-Karabakh situation. The Resolution says that Armenia occupied Azerbaijani territories. It also contains suggestions to settle the conflict. PACE established a sub-committee to control the implementation of the conflict. The documents urges CE to increase pressure on Armenia to implement the resolution passed by PACE. The documents are planned to be distributed both in PACE and other committees of the organization.
The PACE Subcommittee for Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict will hold a meeting during the session. It will discuss the measures taken to settle the conflict, as well as other further steps. The winter session of PACE will continue until 25 January.
Seyidov believes that the meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian MPs to discuss the regulations of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem is normal. "We are the participants of international relations irrespective of our will. The Azerbaijani MPs represented in PACE, OSCE, NATO, European Parliament and other organizations also meet with Armenian MPs. We do not consider the economic relations with Armenians. We hold discussions due to the regulation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Some people treat the issue with unusual lack of logic such as those who seek to blame then assess the reality as wrong," Seyidov stated.
Touching upon the visit to Nagorno-Karabakh by MPs, who represent Azerbaijan and Armenia, and members of the Subcommittee, Seyidov said that the issue will be disclosed after the next negotiations. Azerbaijan has not opposed the visit of members of Subcommittee to Nagorno-Karabakh.