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French MP urges Armenia to stop provocations against Azerbaijan

28 April 2016 16:55 (UTC +04:00)

In his statement, the MP said the international community strongly condemns these actions, urging Armenia to put an end to provocations.

Noting the fact that Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts were occupied by Armenia over 20 years ago, Reitzer said Armenia still ignores the resolutions of the UN Security Council, the UN General Assembly and other international organizations demanding the liberation of Azerbaijan’s occupied territories.

He went on to say that France, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, was directly involved in the adoption of those resolutions.

At the same time, France, as an OSCE Minsk Group co-chair, continues making efforts for the UN Security Council’s four resolutions to be peacefully fulfilled, he added.

According to him, historical justice and international law are on Azerbaijan’s side.

“Sooner or later, Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity will be restored, so the IDPs will return to their homes. Personally, I’m from the Alsace region of France and the Alsatians know very well that what an occupation or aggression by a neighboring country is like. For this reason, they understand better the Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan. As a people who have always stood by justice, the French support Azerbaijan’s just position,” Reitzer concluded.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict entered its modern phase when the Armenian SRR made territorial claims against the Azerbaijani SSR in 1988.

A fierce war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. As a result of the war, Armenian armed forces occupied some 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory which includes Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts (Lachin, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Gubadli and Zangilan), and over a million Azerbaijanis became refugees and internally displaced people.

The military operations finally came to an end when Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in Bishkek in 1994.

Dealing with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the OSCE Minsk Group, which was created after the meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Helsinki on 24 March 1992. The Group’s members include Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belarus, Finland and Sweden.

Besides, the OSCE Minsk Group has a co-chairmanship institution, comprised of Russian, US and French co-chairs, which began operating in 1996.

Resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 of the UN Security Council, which were passed in short intervals in 1993, and other resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly, PACE, OSCE, OIC, and other organizations require Armenia to unconditionally withdraw its troops from Nagorno-Karabakh.