FM: Latvia concerned over aggravation of situation in Nagorno-Karabakh

Latvia is concerned over the aggravation of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, said Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics.

Rinkevics was addressing a joint briefing with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov in Baku Feb. 13, APA reported.

“We understand the complexity of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. We are concerned about the reports of escalating situation in the region,” he said.

The Latvian minister stressed the need to find a negotiated solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Latvia is committed to the principle of territorial integrity and support the negotiation process mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group, said Rinkevics.

“The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s settlement is discussed not only within the OSCE, but also within the framework of the Eastern Partnership and European Union,” added the minister.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict entered its modern phase when the Armenian SRR made territorial claims against the Azerbaijani SSR in 1988.

A fierce war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. As a result of the war, Armenian armed forces occupied some 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory which includes Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts (Lachin, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Gubadli and Zangilan), and over a million Azerbaijanis became refugees and internally displaced people.

The military operations finally came to an end when Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in Bishkek in 1994.

Dealing with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the OSCE Minsk Group, which was created after the meeting of the CSCE (OSCE after the Budapest summit held in Dec.1994) Ministerial Council in Helsinki on 24 March 1992. The Group’s members include Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belarus, Finland and Sweden.

Besides, the OSCE Minsk Group has a co-chairmanship institution, comprised of Russian, the US and French co-chairs, which began operating in 1996.  

Resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 of the UN Security Council, which were passed in short intervals in 1993, and other resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly, PACE, OSCE, OIC, and other organizations require Armenia to unconditionally withdraw its troops from Nagorno-Karabakh.

News.Az
 

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