Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 1
By Ilhama Isabalayeva – Trend:
Vice Speaker of Azerbaijan’s Parliament Bahar Muradova says the discussions on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to be held by Iran and Russia in late March won’t make positive contribution to the conflict’s settlement in the short term.
“However, discussing the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s settlement is in the interests of Russia and Iran,” Muradova, who also heads Azerbaijan’s OSCE PA delegation, told Trend Mar. 1.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is to be discussed by Iranian and Russian officials during Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s visit to Moscow in late March.
“Exchange of views on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s settlement during Rouhani’s visit to Moscow is objectively justified as Russia is an OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing country and Iran is a neighbor bordering both Azerbaijan and Armenia,” Muradova said.
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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.