Paris urges to resume peace talks over Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

/By Azernews/

By Nazrin Gadimova

France, as one of the three co-chairing countries in the OSCE Minsk Group, urged not to resort to the use of force and to return to negotiations over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution.

Harlem Désir, French Secretary of State for European Affairs, made the remark while talking to media in Yerevan.

“The talks are needed to prevent such forms of violence which we have witnessed recently,” he told media. “We need to work together to create a world based on the non-use of force, on the principle of territorial integrity and the right of nations to self-determination.”

Désir further added that he came to Armenia to call for a peace, justice and reconciliation.

The French official believes that the control mechanism over the incidents should be applied, while the parties to the long-lasting conflict should sit at the negotiating table and strictly observe the ceasefire.

Despite the reached agreement on ceasefire on April 5, Armenia continues violating truce on the contact line of troops.

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry reports that the Armenian Armed Forces intensively fired at the Azerbaijani positions in the direction of Agdere region and some villages of the Terter region adjacent to the frontline area using large-caliber guns, mortars and rocket launchers on April 24.

Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million were displaced as a result of the war.

The peace talks have been largely fruitless so far despite the efforts of the co-chair countries over 20 years.

The sides to the conflict currently hold talks based on the renewed Madrid principles, which envisage return of occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani control, ensure the right of all internally displaced persons and refugees to return to their former places of residence, future determination of the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh and etc.