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By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijani president and European Union envoy have focused on the long-lasting Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which erupted back in 1988 over Armenia’s claims against Azerbaijan.

President Ilham Aliyev received a delegation led by Herbert Salber, European Union Special Representative for the South Caucasus on January 14.

The sides widely discussed the issues related to settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

President Aliyev expressed Azerbaijan’s interest in soonest settlement of the conflict, adding the country spares no efforts towards liberating its internationally recognized lands from occupation.

Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million were displaced as a result of the war.

Large-scale hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire in 1994 but Armenia continued the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal. Peace talks mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. have produced no results so far.

President Aliyev also said it was important that Armenia also shows constructive position in this process, and added that delaying the settlement was unacceptable.

He highlighted the importance of taking more active steps towards ensuring just solution of the dispute by the Minsk Group co-chairs and international organizations, including the European Union and its bodies.

The sides also discussed current state and prospects of Azerbaijani-EU relations during the meeting.

Earlier, Salber visited Azerbaijan in last October and discussed the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, alongside with other issues with the high-ranking Azerbaijani officials.

He said EU attaches particular importance to finding a solution to the long-lasting Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which erupted back in 1988 over Armenia’s territorial claims against Azerbaijan.

European Parliament in 2013 adopted a resolution which confirmed that Armenian troops have occupied Azerbaijani territories and called for resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis of UN Security Council resolutions and the L'Aquila statement of the mediating countries' leaders in 2009.

According to changes to the resolution, the European parliament recalled its position that the occupation of the territory of an Eastern Partnership member by another member state violates the fundamental principles and objectives of the EU program.

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

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