Azerbaijani Parliamentary Speaker and Afghan Foreign Minister discuss Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 17 / Trend , I.Alizade/ Ogtay Asadov, the Azerbaijani parliamentary speaker, and Rangin Datfar Spanta, the Afghan Foreign Minister, have discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. "We highly assess Afghanistan's support to territorial integrity of Azerbaijan within the framework of different international organizations. We believe, the problem will be solved soon as a result of joint efforts of international community," Asadov, the speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament said at a meeting with Spanta, the Afghan Foreign Minister, in Baku on Dec. 17.

The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began in 1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since 1992, Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20% of Azerbaijan including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which time the active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Russia, France, and the US) are currently holding peaceful negotiations.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a major problem of Azerbaijan developing day by day, Asadov said: "We support fair solution of the problem within the framework of international laws."

Recently, relations between the countries have been of intensive character, the speaker said. Deepening of interparliamentary relations will positively influence on development of cooperation between two countries, Asadov said, reminding visit of Yunis Ganuni, the speaker of the Afghan National Assembly, early Dec.: "A work group has been established at the Azerbaijani Parliament on relations with the legislative body of Afghanistan. Establishment of such a group at the Afghan Parliament would be useful for development of relations between the countries."

So far, only one document has been inked between the countries, the speaker said. Despite this, Asadov hopes, number of documents in this field will rise and stable legal base of cooperation will be established in future: "Both countries have enough potential for this."

Azerbaijan and Afghanistan have mutual useful cooperation within the framework of the United Nations, the Economic Cooperation Organization and the Organization for Islamic Conference, as well as Azerbaijan intends to increase efficiency of this cooperation, the speaker said.