Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 8 / Trend /
German Ex-State Secretary and German-Azerbaijani Relations Development Center GEFDAB Head Eduard Lintner believes Armenia is obliged to comply with the principles of current international law, namely respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of other states.
Armenia should obey the principle of peaceful settlement of the conflicts and, on this basis, agree on an acceptable autonomous status for Armenian minorities living in Azerbaijan, Lintner said at the discussions on "Violence, Aggression and War - not the path to peace and prosperity".
The discussions were held at the German Feredal Ministry of Press and Information upon Lintner's initiative, the GeFDAB reported.
Referring to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Member of the German Bundestag and member of the German delegation to the OSCE Karl-Georg Wellmann said the armed aggression and occupation of foreign territory can not be justified with the right of people to self-determination.
"The existing international law provides a national minorities residing in almost every state with the mechanism of protection of their rights, but not the right of secession, so the UN has consistently indicated that the Nagorno-Karabakh id the part of the Azerbaijan Republic," Wellmann said.
The participants called on Armenia to free the occupied lands of Azerbaijan, not to hinder the return of refugees to their homes and enter into negotiations with Azerbaijan on Karabakh's future status in accordance with the proposals of the OSCE Minsk Group.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
The discussions also were attended by Azerbaijani Ambassador to Germany Parviz Shahbazov and parliamentarians, as well as Germany's Ex-Trade Minister Michael Gloss.