By Azernews

By Rashid Shirinov

The issue of settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict may be discussed at regular sessions of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (PA), Assembly's President Christine Muttonen told reporters in Baku on September 8.

She said the Parliamentary Assembly is a good platform for discussing existing conflicts in the OSCE area.

"Parliamentarians from various member countries regularly raise issues concerning their countries at the organization," she noted. “Undoubtedly, we expect the issue of settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to be included in the OSCE PA agenda."

Muttonen added that the OSCE PA Rapporteur Kristian Vigenin is actively working towards restoring peace and stability in the region.

“We, together with our Azerbaijani partners, are working to restore stability in the region and in the interests of people’s well-being,” she said.

Muttonen also added that there is good cooperation between Azerbaijan and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, and the organization is interested in its further development.

Muttonen arrived in the country on September 7, and was received by President Ilham Aliyev on Friday morning. Speaker of Azerbaijan`s Parliament Ogtay Asadov met Muttonen later during the day.

The consequences of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the current state of peace talks were touched upon during the meetings in Baku.

The Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is more than two-decade-old, but still actual. It 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 regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

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

 In 1992, the OSCE established the Minsk Group in order to resolve the conflict by peaceful means. However, the organization, co-chaired by Russia, the U.S. and France, still fails to find a solution to the problem.