Karabakh conflict to be addressed at OSCE PA winter session

By Azernews

By Rashid Shirinov

Issues related to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be discussed at the winter session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) that is to be held in February 2017.

This was announced by Bahar Muradova, vice-speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament, head of the Azerbaijani delegation to the OSCE PA, to Trend on December 16.

“The Nagorno-Karabakh problem is definitely becoming the subject of discussion regardless of whether it is included in the agenda or not,” said Muradova.

The vice-speaker added that during the session, this issue is raised, first of all, by representatives of Azerbaijan, as well as other parliamentarians.

"Thus, this issue will again be on the agenda of the session," Muradova said.

The Nagorno-Karabakh issue was recently discussed at the 23rd OSCE Ministerial Council on December 8-9 in Hamburg. At the meeting, foreign ministers of the OSCE Minsk group co-chair countries made a joint statement on the problem where expressed full commitment to a negotiated settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign State with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.

Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.