Heated discussions on the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone were held in the German Bundestag today. Speaking in front of parliamentarians, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany Heiko Maas called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to stop the hostilities without any precondition and added that the international community must pressure the parties at war to ensure ceasefire.
The deputies slammed the EU’s passive role in this conflict and called on the EU to not limit itself to statements.
Member of the ruling CDU/CSU faction Johan Vadehpul said Turkey must know that Germany’s patience has run out and added that it is necessary to send Turkey a clear signal. “We see Turkey’s tremendous support to Azerbaijan. There are reports that Turkey is sending Islamists from Syria. It is clear that Turkey has friendly ties with Azerbaijan, but we are waiting for our NATO partner to use that friendship for a peaceful settlement of the conflict,” he said.
Member of the Lefts Party of Germany Gregor Gizi called on removing Turkey from the OSCE Minsk Group. “It is no longer possible to maintain neutrality in this situation. Turkey and Azerbaijan have violated the agreement on a peaceful and political settlement of the conflict. We need to clearly condemn Turkey and stop supply German weapons to Turkey. The country that perpetrated the Armenian Genocide, at least due to ethnic considerations, had to at least be neutral in any conflict with Armenia and stop killing Armenians,” Gizi said, adding that Turkey joined the war without informing NATO and sent not only weapons, but also Syrian mercenaries to the conflict zone.
“Despite the principles of negotiations, Turkey wants to have the territories returned by force. The German government needs to resolutely condemn. Azerbaijan is currently trying to seize the road linking Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia. If this happens, it will become the final humanitarian disaster for the peaceful population of Nagorno-Karabakh,” Gregor Gizi said.
Representative of the Free Democratic Party Bijan Djir-Saraoi called on the EU to assume responsibility. According to member of the Greens Party Manuel Sarazin, Germany and Europe haven’t been pressuring enough to change the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh over the years.
Deputy of the CDU/CSU Manfred Grund declared that “it is necessary to initiate a donors’ conference for the restoration of Artsakh.” He stated that “talking about the principles of self-determination of nations, territorial integrity and other principles, we must not forget that terrorism and war are gross violations of human rights.” According to Grund, Germany doesn’t have the right to repeat its mistake of 1915 and keep silent about injustice.
