October 22, 2012 - 14:12 AMT
French envoy: high time Karabakh conflict sides forgot hatred of past

Since 1994, France has showed persistent, firm and resolute commitment to advancing the Azerbaijani-Armenian talks on Nagorno Karabakh process, France ambassador to Baku said.

“France has repeatedly said that Karabakh conflict has no military solution: the parties must commit themselves to peaceful resolution of the problem, based on principles of the UN Charter and Helsinki Final Act,” Pascal Meunier said.

As the envoy further noted, the conflict sparks serious concerns.

“Today my message to the people of Azerbaijan and Armenia is as follows: think about your children and grandchildren, and let them not feel the pain that you went through. Throughout the history, also in the near past, Azerbaijanis and Armenians lived together in peace and contributed to each other's prosperity. It is high time they forgot the conflict of opinion and hatred of the past. France's co-chairmanship in Minsk Group is making active contribution to the development of innovative ideas to later present them to the parties of conflict, including development of humanitarian contacts, formation of mechanism for investigating the ceasefire violation cases and preservation of historical and cultural monuments among them. Since President Hollande assumed power, France has arranged three meetings at the ministerial level, with the two of them held in Paris. The fourth one is in the course of preparation. We, together with other co-chairs of Minsk Group, aim to help revive the dialogue between Azerbaijan and Armenia,” News.Az quoted the French envoy as saying.