Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.10
Trend:
The European Union can play a role in promoting contacts between the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of Nagorno-Karabakh, spokesperson of Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Hikmet Hajiyev said.
Commenting on the meeting of EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia Herbert Salber with the so-called foreign minister of the separatist regime in Nagorno-Karabakh, Karen Mirzoyan in Yerevan, Hajiyev said that the Azerbaijani side was informed in advance of this meeting.
"Armenians living in Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh region are also Azerbaijani citizens," said the spokesperson.
"During his visit to Azerbaijan in October 2014, Salber met with the representatives of the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh and became familiar with their views on the conflict's settlement."
Azerbaijani side has repeatedly said that contacts are needed between the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh region and EU can pay a role in promoting such contacts, according to Hajiyev.
EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia Herbert Salber met with the so-called foreign minister of the separatist regime in Nagorno-Karabakh, Karen Mirzoyan on Feb.10.
"We will surely continue such type of dialogue, such types of contacts that we had today," said Salber during that meeting. "It was my first meeting with the representative of Nagorno-Karabakh. We will continue this dialogue and will see which ways can be found for continuing our contacts."
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.