French FM: No hierarchy exists in principles of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution

The French Foreign Ministry officially reacted as a response to Azerbaijani Ambassador to France Elchin Amirbeyov’s protest letter to French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe  in connection with his remarks in Parliament that "the right of peoples to self-determination is a fundamental principle."

"The Ministry’s Continental Europe Department head conveyed words of Juppe, who is outside the country, that the official position of the French Foreign Ministry has not changed," Amirbeyov said.

"The protest letter was brought to Juppe’s attention and he once again stressed that there is no hierarchy in the principles that should underlie the process of settling the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," the ministry’s representative said.

Amirbeyov on Thursday sent a protest letter to Minister Juppe in connection with his remarks in Parliament. In the letter, the ambassador expressed the dissatisfaction of the Azerbaijani side in connection with the statements of French foreign minister and demanded explanations from him.

Following the embassy’s reaction, the French Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Thursday afternoon.

The official position of the Foreign Ministry of France, as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, is to completely support the provisions of the Helsinki Final Act and the statements by the presidents of Russia, France and the U.S. they have made at the G8 summit in Italy's L'Aquila and Canada's Muskok, the ministry’s statement reads.

"The presidents of the Russian Federation, the United States and France, as heads of OSCE Minsk Group co-chair states, welcomed and viewed as an important step the both sides' recognition of the fact that a lasting settlement must be based on the principles contained in the Helsinki Final Act and on those provisions that we proposed in connection with our statement at the G8 summit in L'Aquila in July 10, 2009".

They include: the return of territories around Nagorno-Karabakh, an interim status for Nagorno-Karabakh, which provides guarantees of security and self-government; corridor linking Armenia with Nagorno-Karabakh; determining the future final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh through a legally binding will of its people, the right of all internally displaced persons and refugees to return to their former homes, international guarantees of security, including peacekeeping operations.

Also, the statement by the French Foreign Ministry contained support for the statement of OSCE Minsk Group on March 9.

"The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group are deeply concerned by reports of cease-fire violations along the Line of Contact before and after the March 5 Sochi Summit. Such senseless acts, if confirmed, would contravene the commitment of the parties to refrain from the use of force and to seek a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," the message said.


/Trend/