YEREVAN. – Last year Armenia continued joint efforts with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing states aimed at finding exclusively peaceful resolution of Karabakh conflict, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in an annual report.
Summits with the participation of the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders were organized in Sochi on the initiative of Russia's Vladimir Putin, in New Port on the initiative of Secretary of State John Kerry and in Paris by France's Francois Hollande. The aim of the meetings was to reduce tension, prevent escalation of the conflict and create favorable conditions for promotion of settlement.
Three meetings of the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers were held throughout the year under the mediation of OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian held separate meetings with the Co-Chairs. The mediators visited region in February, May, September and October of 2014.
The heads of the delegations of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing states issued a joint statement within the OSCE Ministerial Council in Basel on December 4. The statement once again said that the basis of comprehensive solution to the problem is elements and principles envisaged in the joint statements of the presidents of U.S., Russia and France.
During the regular session of CSTO member states in Moscow with the participation of President Serzh Sargsyan, a statement on key foreign policy issues was made. The statement said: “We, the Heads of State – members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization – also note the necessity of peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, stressing the importance of speediest completing the work on the basic principles of settlement of the conflict through the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group on the basis of principles and norms of international law, the UN Charter, the provisions of Helsinki Final Act, in particular concerning the use of force or threat of force, territorial integrity, equality and the right of peoples to self-determination”.
The statement adopted during the summit of the International Organization of La Francophonie contained a provision on full for to the OSCE Minsk Group efforts.
On August 28 California Senate adopted a resolution recognizing independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.
On September 12 the Basque Parliament adopted a motion supporting the self-determination of Nagorno-Karabakh. It states that Karabakhi people have the right to decide their own future, namely their self-determination, which is the fundamental element in any negotiation for the final settlement of the conflict.
