PARIS MEETING OF PRESIDENTS OF AZERBAIJAN, ARMENIA POSITIVE
Trend, Azerbaijan
Oct 28 2014
By Seba Agayeva - Trend:
Paris meeting of the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan to settle
the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can be considered
successful, professor of Western University Fikret Sadikhov told
Trend Oct.28, commenting on the meeting of the two presidents.
"In any case, the meeting is a positive factor," Sadikhov said. "It
demonstrates the peacefulness of Azerbaijani diplomacy, official Baku
and its desire to resolve this long-running conflict peacefully. That
is an advantage and the priority of Azerbaijani diplomacy."
Joint meeting of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan with the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group
took place in Paris October 27, the official website of the Azerbaijani
president said earlier.
The meeting took place at the initiative of French President Francois
Hollande. Then there was a meeting of President of Azerbaijan Ilham
Aliyev and President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan.
Thereafter, a joint meeting of French President Francois Hollande,
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan with the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group took place.
"As for the meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia,
I think that those pragmatically assessing and making predictions
did not expect any radical changes at this meeting," he said.
"The problem itself is too complex. It was impossible to ensure a
variety of geopolitical interests at one meeting with anyone, given
that the efforts are made up until now to create balance between
Armenia and Azerbaijan."
He said that an agreement on the exchange of information on missing
persons, hostages and prisoners of war was reached, which is little
progress.
"It is also important," he said. "The main thing is to take into
account Armenia's stubborn position, which apparently needs to be
forced to peace."
He said that the French president expressed the desire on the need to
start working on the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between Azerbaijan
and Armenia.
The political analyst said that the primary information on the outcome
of the meeting gives reason to say that in any case the meeting was
not useless.
"The meeting created an opportunity for Azerbaijan to express its
attitude to the conflict, its position, to discuss the most sensitive
points of the conflict and to recall the occupation of Azerbaijani
territories," he said. "In this aspect, I think that in general,
the meeting can be considered successful and positive at another
stage of searching for further ways to resolve the issue."
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries 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 districts.
Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are
currently holding peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented
four U.N. Security Council resolutions on the liberation of the
Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
During a visit to the South Caucasus region in May, French president
reaffirmed the commitment of France as a co-chairing country of the
Minsk Group to continue mediating to search for a peaceful solution
to this conflict, twenty years after the ceasefire agreement entered
into force.
From: A. Papazian
Trend, Azerbaijan
Oct 28 2014
By Seba Agayeva - Trend:
Paris meeting of the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan to settle
the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can be considered
successful, professor of Western University Fikret Sadikhov told
Trend Oct.28, commenting on the meeting of the two presidents.
"In any case, the meeting is a positive factor," Sadikhov said. "It
demonstrates the peacefulness of Azerbaijani diplomacy, official Baku
and its desire to resolve this long-running conflict peacefully. That
is an advantage and the priority of Azerbaijani diplomacy."
Joint meeting of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan with the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group
took place in Paris October 27, the official website of the Azerbaijani
president said earlier.
The meeting took place at the initiative of French President Francois
Hollande. Then there was a meeting of President of Azerbaijan Ilham
Aliyev and President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan.
Thereafter, a joint meeting of French President Francois Hollande,
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan with the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group took place.
"As for the meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia,
I think that those pragmatically assessing and making predictions
did not expect any radical changes at this meeting," he said.
"The problem itself is too complex. It was impossible to ensure a
variety of geopolitical interests at one meeting with anyone, given
that the efforts are made up until now to create balance between
Armenia and Azerbaijan."
He said that an agreement on the exchange of information on missing
persons, hostages and prisoners of war was reached, which is little
progress.
"It is also important," he said. "The main thing is to take into
account Armenia's stubborn position, which apparently needs to be
forced to peace."
He said that the French president expressed the desire on the need to
start working on the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between Azerbaijan
and Armenia.
The political analyst said that the primary information on the outcome
of the meeting gives reason to say that in any case the meeting was
not useless.
"The meeting created an opportunity for Azerbaijan to express its
attitude to the conflict, its position, to discuss the most sensitive
points of the conflict and to recall the occupation of Azerbaijani
territories," he said. "In this aspect, I think that in general,
the meeting can be considered successful and positive at another
stage of searching for further ways to resolve the issue."
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries 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 districts.
Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are
currently holding peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented
four U.N. Security Council resolutions on the liberation of the
Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
During a visit to the South Caucasus region in May, French president
reaffirmed the commitment of France as a co-chairing country of the
Minsk Group to continue mediating to search for a peaceful solution
to this conflict, twenty years after the ceasefire agreement entered
into force.
From: A. Papazian