Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 27 / Trend M. Aliyev /
Azerbaijan urged Ireland chairing in the OSCE in 2012 to take concrete steps to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Vice-Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament Bahar Muradova told Trend today.
She said that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was the main topic of discussions at a meeting with the Irish delegation within the OSCE PA winter session in Vienna.
The sides exchanged the views on the work that Ireland, as acting chairing country of the organization, wants and will conduct. The proposals for several meetings and events with the participation of Azerbaijani and Armenian delegations to the Parliamentary Assembly were put forward, Muradova said.
"I stressed that Ireland's activity as the OSCE chairing country must serve not only to bring the representatives of the delegations together. It should be aimed at a global approach to the issue and to give effect to the measures which can promote the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement."
She said that the Irish delegation was informed about the importance of implementing the measures for the rapprochement of the parties' positions, as well as taking specific steps to make a certain pressure on Armenia as the aggressor country for it to take a constructive position.
"The Irish delegation wants to achieve concrete results," she said. "Using their desire, we must also expand our efforts and are willing to cooperate."
The successive meetings with the Irish delegation will be held to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict this year, Muradova stressed.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of
Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven 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 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.