Nagorno-Karabakh Azerbaijani community to resume its activity: co-founder

"A new leader of the community will favor to expand our activity," Nagorno-Karabakh Azerbaijani Community Public Union Co-founder and Member of the Azerbaijani Parliament Havva Mammadova told Trend News on March 5.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev appointed Bayram Safarov as the head of the Shusha Region Administration last week. Safarov was also elected the head of the Nagorno-Karabakh Azerbaijani Community.

The Union passed a state registration in October 2006. The Union's head and Shusha Region Administration's head Nizami Bahmanov died on Sept. 13 in 2008. Members of the Azerbaijani Parliament Havva Mammadova and Elman Mammadov are the community's co-founders.

Mammadova said the community will take an active part in the peace negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement in 2009.

"I think the new leader will actively participate in the process," she said. "We - co-founders are ready support him."

The community must closely cooperate with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to succeed in its activity, Mammadova said. "We will seek the co-chairs to meet with the Nagorno-Karabakh Azerbaijani Community's management during their visits to the region," he said. "We will support the Azerbaijani president's decisive position on the Nagorno-Karabakh problem by active taking part in the conflict settlement process."

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan lost all of Nagorno-Karabakh except for Shusha and Khojali in December 1991. In 1992-93, Armenian armed forces occupied Shusha, Khojali and 7 districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.

/Trend News/