Azerbaijan, Baku, June 19 / Trend E. Mehdiyev /
The presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries have made statements reflecting concern over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. As a whole this can be evaluated positively, vice-president and executive secretary of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party, MP Ali Ahmadov told media today. He was commenting on the statement in connection with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict adopted by the presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries.
He stressed that this can be considered as a fact that the Minsk Group large co-chairing countries have not forgotten about the settlement of the conflict.
"But a more important part of the truth is that despite more than 20 years having passed, the conflict has not been resolved yet," he said. "The situation with more than one million Azerbaijani refugees and IDPs has not been changed. They still fail to return home. Therefore the historical truth has not been restored."
The Minsk Group which has taken on such a responsible mission as the conflict settlement cannot cope with the problem, he said.
"I cannot imagine anyone can be blamed by the Minsk Group which has taken on the conflict settlement mission and has not fulfilled the task for 20 years," he said. "It is simply impossible to understand this logic. As the aggressor has not been called and the Minsk Group co-chairmen have not set specific requirements to liberate the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, it will be impossible to promote the conflict settlement. I believe that it would be better if the Minsk Group co-chairing countries expressed a particular attitude to this issue and it would be possible to achieve more significant action for the conflict settlement."
The French, Russian and U.S presidents made a joint statement on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement expressing deep regret because the parties failed to find a solution to the problem during negotiations.
'We are confident that the further delay in reaching a balanced framework agreement leading to a comprehensive peace settlement is unacceptable', the document says. 'We urge the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders to focus on the issues that are still open'.
Russia, U.S. and France have expressed confidence that the statements made by them in this regard for the last four years must be the foundation of a just and lasting settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. According to the leaders of the three countries, these provisions must be considered as a whole, as any attempt to show preference to one of them excludes the possibility of adopting a balanced solution.
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.