Azernews.Az

By Rashid Shirinov

Andre Reichardt, the head of the France-Caucasus Friendship Group in the French Senate, has announced about plans to hold a meeting between Azerbaijani and Armenian parliamentarians at the French Senate.

He noted that a meeting was held with the President of the French Senate in this regard, and he gave his prior consent.

“We can take positive steps in this direction. The meeting’s date is unknown yet because it is only an initiative. However, we have got approval from the Senate’s President. Once the Presidents confirm this decision, we can give accurate information about the location and date of the meeting,” Reichardt said at a press conference in Baku on March 13.

The senator noted that the issue of organizing a meeting between parliamentarians was raised back in times of the previous President of the Senate, but the meeting did not take place.

“Our primary expectation is that some positive progress be made towards settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which has a negative impact on regional stability. We expect to be able to take certain steps at the meeting to eliminate these negatives,” Reichardt added.

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. 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.

Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan's territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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