By Azernews

By Rashid Shirinov

The Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict cannot be resolved without the active involvement of authoritative international organizations.

Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics, who is on a visit to Azerbaijan, made the remarks in an interview with Trend on February 13.

"Latvia confirms its permanent position: the country’s territorial integrity is the number one principle,” Rinkevics said.

“We will always support the territorial integrity of all countries of the Eastern Partnership," he said, adding that the peaceful negotiations are the only way to resolve the conflict.

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. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

Rinkevics further stressed that Latvia is constantly discussing the issue with Baku and Yerevan.

"The principles, worked out by the OSCE Minsk Group, must be observed,” the minister said, adding that he is concerned about the violation of the ceasefire regime on the contact line of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops.

“The work must be intensified in this direction through diplomatic channels," Rinkevics said.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group, led by Russia, the United States and France. However, it brought no convincing results so far.

Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan's territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.

The Armenian side constantly violates truce and targets Azerbaijani soldiers and even civilians ever since the ceasefire agreement was reached between the parties to the conflict.