MP: LATVIA BACKS PEACEFUL KARABAKH SETTLEMENT WITHIN AZERBAIJAN’S INTEGRITY
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Oct 15 2013
15 October 2013, 11:43 (GMT+05:00)
By Sara Rajabova
A Latvian lawmaker has said his country supports a peaceful settlement
of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the
framework of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and this was stated
recently at the UN General Assembly session, Azertag news agency
reported.
Romans Naudins, a member of the Latvian-Azerbaijani parliamentary
cooperation group, who visited Azerbaijan shortly before the October
9 presidential elections, said the policy of double standards of
the international community hinders a settlement of the long-lasting
conflict.
The conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims
against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the early 1990s that
displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed forces have
occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized
territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions. The
UN Security Council’s four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal have
not been enforced to this day.
Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. through the OSCE
Minsk Group, are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed
by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles. The
negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.
Naudins expressed concern that the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
poses major hurdles not only for the South Caucasus region but also
the stability of the entire Europe as reliable energy supply routes
are extremely important for the EU countries.
Naudins said Azerbaijan contributes significantly to the strengthening
of Europe’s energy security. The conflict also has a strong negative
impact on Armenia’s economy, given that Armenia has been sidelined from
the largest regional projects initiated and implemented by Azerbaijan,
he added.
He also said that next year will see the 20th anniversary of the
diplomatic relations between Latvia and Azerbaijan. According to him,
the two countries closely cooperate within international organizations,
and bilateral relations within the Eastern Partnership program are
efficient.
Naudins said there is every opportunity to develop bilateral
relations. He added that the Latvian-Azerbaijani parliamentary
cooperation group is ready to contribute to strengthening the
partnership between the two countries.