Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15
By Anakhanum Khidayatova - Trend:
The US respects Azerbaijan's sovereign right to raise issues related to Nagorno-Karabakh in regional and international organizations, including the Parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the US Department of State told Trend Feb. 15.
The US Department of State made the remarks commenting on the role played by Victoria Nuland, the US assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, with regard to a resolution on Nagorno-Karabakh, which wasn't passed in PACE.
Previously, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution on a report titled "Inhabitants of frontier regions of Azerbaijan are deliberately deprived of water."
The report prepared by MP Milica Markovic, representing Bosnia and Herzegovina, was adopted Jan. 26 at the PACE Winter Session in Strasbourg.
However, the second resolution on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was not passed by the PACE. Earlier, in an interview with an Armenian newspaper, US Congressman Adam Schiff said Nuland played a special role in the non-adoption of the said resolution by the PACE.
The OSCE Minsk Group is the negotiation format accepted by the sides of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the US hopes the sides will remain fully committed to working closely with the Co-Chairs of the group on a negotiated settlement, according to the US Department of State.
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.