Armenia must be ready for de-occupation of Azerbaijani territories

Armenia must be ready for de-occupation of the seized Azerbaijani territories and follow the requirements of international law, since there is no other way out, Italian expert Fabio Paladini told Day.Az on March 1.

The expert mentioned that Azerbaijan can effectively use Italy’s OSCE Chairmanship and unite efforts towards resolving the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"Italy, as the country chairing the OSCE, has already stated that it will take efforts in the Karabakh settlement, and I think that this issue will be on the agenda during Italy’s chairmanship in this organization," he said.

+Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano has earlier said that this year his country plans to pay maximum attention to the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh and other conflicts in the region, noting that all these issues are Italy’s priorities during its OSCE Chairmanship.

Paladini mentioned that the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains one of the most difficult regional problems over more than two past decades.

The conflict 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 NagornoKarabakh region 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. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Until now, Armenia controls fifth part of Azerbaijan’s territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions.

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.

“During the entire period of its ineffective activity, the OSCE Minsk Group has not made any progress in the negotiation process, and it can be said that it has almost outlived itself as a serious international platform,” Paladini said.

Nevertheless, he added, international mediators have recently accellerated their efforts for resolutiom of the problem.“They periodically visit the region, meet with the heads of Azerbaijan and Armenia and try to consolidate their efforts in one direction.”

The expert noted that in general, this is a positive fact and a sign of interest in this issue. He believes that it is difficult to solve it in a short time, since the problem is deep, serious and requires great efforts from both sides of the conflict and international mediators. The expert added that the protracted conflict can negatively affect the entire situation in the region.