Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 23
By Ilkin Izzet- Trend:
The issue of settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will also be discussed during the visit of French President Francois Hollande to Turkey, Turkish ambassador to Azerbaijan Ismail Alper Coshgun told Trend on Jan.23.
During Hollande's visit to Turkey the development of bilateral relations, as well as ties between EU and Turkey will be discussed, the ambassador said.
"France is a longtime ally, an important friendly European country for Turkey. But unfortunately, France has not played a positive role in the issue of Turkey's EU membership in recent past. We hope that a greater development will be achieved. We expect that France will take a more constructive stance on period of Turkey's full membership in the EU," the ambassador said.
The issue of settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be touched upon during the meeting of Hollande with the Turkish president and prime minister, according to the Turkish diplomat.
"We raise the Nagorno-Karabakh issue as the most important issue not only in relations with France, but with all the countries of the world. There are two important issues from a national point of view: the Northern Cyprus issue and Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. This topic is sure to be discussed," Coshgun said.
During the discussion of this problem, the immediate restoration of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity will be pointed out as the most important issue, the ambassador said.
"We urge France to play a more active role in this issue. We will once again bring it to attention that in order to ensure the spread of the rapid development of Azerbaijan and the projects jointly implemented by Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey to the entire region and for Armenia was not be isolated from these processes, Armenia should act in accordance with sound logic by abandoning the aggressive policy and by acting in accordance with international law. And we will ask substantive support of France in this issue," the ambassador said.
French President Francois Hollande will pay a visit to Turkey on Jan.27-28 at the invitation of his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul. This will be the first visit of French president to Turkey in 22 years.
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.
Translated by L.Z.
Edited by C.N.