Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 17
By Matanat Nasibova - Trend:
Armenia’s illegal activity in the occupied Azerbaijani territories is one of the main problems, and this issue should not only be discussed as part of events organized inside the country, but also abroad, Chairman of the Azerbaijani Parliament’s committee on international relations and inter-parliamentary ties Samad Seyidov said.
He made the remarks Nov. 17 at an international conference entitled “Illegal activity in the occupied Azerbaijani territories and the responsibility of third parties” in Baku.
He noted that periodically the Azerbaijani delegation raises this issue at the level of international structures in order to draw attention to the situation in the occupied territories.
“This issue has been submitted for discussion to the Council of Europe, and I think that it is necessary to hold conferences of the current level in international structures, in Europe and, possibly, with the participation of Azerbaijani MPs,” he said. “I consider it very important to hold a conference of such content in a multilateral format. This would be the most effective way to find mechanisms for solving this global problem, which is of great importance for Azerbaijan. In the current situation, it is necessary to provide detailed information based on real facts related to the illegal use of the occupied Azerbaijani territories by Armenia for enrichment purposes.”
He noted that the OSCE Minsk Group should pay special attention to this problem, the mission of which shouldn’t consist of idleness that it has shown all these years, but the maximum use of all instruments of pressure on the occupier country - Armenia.
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.