"Initiative to appoint UN Special Representative for Nagorno-Karabakh must be welcomed"

The initiative to appoint a UN Special Representative for Nagorno-Karabakh must be welcomed the deputy speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament and head of the parliamentary delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Bahar Muradova, said in an interview with the website of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party.

Even if the initiative does not replace the OSCE Minsk Group tasked with finding a resolution to the Azerbaijan-Armenia territorial dispute, the appointment may affect the activity of the group, Muradova added.

The former Latvian president Vaira Vike-Freiberga, on a recnt visit to Azerbaijan, proposed the appointment of UN Special Representative for Nagorno-Karabakh in an interview. Muradova said that it was the UN that gave the mandate to the OSCE Minsk Group to mediate settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"Despite the fact that the responsibility lies on the Minsk Group, other international organizations have also declared about their position to settle the conflict, adopt the relevant documents. We have never doubted that the work in other areas, which may affect the settlement of the conflict, is important. But some concerned people argue that a positive result in the peace negotiations can be achieved only with the participation of the Minsk Group. This is our consistent position," she said.

Muradova said that Azerbaijan has made efforts to adopt various documents by parliamentary assemblies in other international organizations, including the UN General Assembly and has achieved it. These efforts demonstrate our country's position.

"So, I appraise the words of the Latvian ex-president, a person who has a specific position in the UN. If more international efforts and initiatives of goodwill are made to resolve the problem, the responsibility of the Minsk Group in fulfilling its responsibilities and its efforts in advancing the process to resolve the problem will increase. We saw this when we discussed the latest draft resolution put forward by Azerbaijan. This project has caused concern and panic from the Armenian side. Moreover, the fact of even greater responsiveness and attentiveness of the organization, whose mission is to advance the peace process negotiations, is in the center of attention", Deputy Speaker said.


/Trend/