President Aliyev receives French co-chair of OSCE MG
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received French co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Stephane Visconti on December 12 in Baku, Azertac reported.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received French cochair of the OSCE Minsk Group Stephane Visconti on December 12 in Baku, Azertac reported.
Visconti extended French President Francois Hollande`s greetings to the head of state. Saying that he paid a visit to Azerbaijan 15 years ago, Visconti said he is deeply impressed by rapid development processes taking place in the country and its accomplishments.
President Aliyev expressed his hope that as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group France will continue playing an active role in the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The head of state underlined that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has run for many years, and reiterated Azerbaijan`s interest in finding a soonest possible solution to the dispute.
President Aliyev thanked for the greetings of the French President, and asked Stephane Visconti to extend his greetings to Francois Hollande.
Azerbaijan will continue the efforts to resolve the NagornoKarabakh conflict through substantive negotiations jointly with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs.
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov made the remark at a meeting with Stephan Visconti in Baku.
The sides exchanged views on intensification of negotiation process mediated by OSCE Minsk Group cochairs towards the resolution of Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and changing of current situation.
This was Visconti’s first visit to the region after his participation with other two co-chairs in the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting in Hamburg and starting to fulfill his duties.
During the visit to Baku, Visconti reiterated his country’s commitment to continue the efforts, together with the U.S. and Russia, to facilitate an unbiased and fair settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan NagornoKarabakh conflict, the embassy said.
The newly appointed French cochair assumed the office on November 3. His predecessor Pierre Andrieu has held the position since June 2014.
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.
While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign State with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.
Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.