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BAKU: France deems Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan: envoy

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  • BAKU: France deems Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan: envoy

    AzerNews, Azerbaijan
    April 8 2013


    France deems Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan: envoy

    8 April 2013, 15:45 (GMT+05:00)


    By Sara Rajabova

    France has said it recognizes the sovereignty and territorial
    integrity of Azerbaijan and does not recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an
    independent entity, but deems it a part of Azerbaijan.

    French Ambassador to Azerbaijan Pascal Meunier made the statement on
    Monday when commenting on a recent report circulated in Armenian media
    about the establishment of a friendship group in the French parliament
    with the illegal "parliament of Nagorno-Karabakh."

    The ambassador said that such an entity does not officially exist.
    "This is not an official friendship group, but a personal initiative
    of several members of parliament," he said.

    Meunier stated that France respects freedom of expression, and
    everyone has the right to freely express their thoughts.

    "Though I am familiar with those who put forward the proposal about
    the friendship group and respect them, this does not mean that they
    represent the official position of France. This is absolutely wrong,"
    Meunier noted.

    He added that there is a friendship group between France and
    Azerbaijan, which conducts a wide range of activities.

    France is one of the co-chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group, which
    is brokering the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.

    Armenia and Azerbaijan for over two decades have been locked in
    conflict, which emerged over Armenian territorial claims. Since the
    lengthy war in the early 1990s that displaced over one million
    Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of
    Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including
    Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions. The UN Security Council
    has adopted four resolutions on Armenia's withdrawal from the
    Azerbaijani territory, but Armenia has not followed them to this day.

    Though a fragile ceasefire has been in place since 1994, a peace
    accord has never been signed and the dispute remains unresolved.
    Mediators from Russia, France and the U.S. -- co-chairs of the OSCE
    Minsk Group -- have been brokering peace talks over the
    Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but their efforts have not produced any
    result yet.

    Peace negotiations are underway on the basis of a peace outline
    proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid
    Principles, also known as Basic Principles. The document envisions a
    return of the territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani
    control; determining the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh; a
    corridor linking Armenia to the region; and the right of all
    internally displaced persons to return home.

    http://www.azernews.az/azerbaijan/51869.html

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