Without elimination of the occupation, which is the fundamental basis of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the use of the Council of Europe's (CoE) monitoring mechanism can’t give any desired result, Hikmat Hajiyev, spokesman of Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry, told on Oct. 12.

During the fall session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, CoE Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland spoke about the need of monitoring missions’ visits to conflict zones.

“Firstly, the occupation and aggression fact, which is an obstacle to solving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, must be removed and the Armenian troops must be withdrawn from the occupied Azerbaijani territories,” said Hajiyev.

He also reminded that according to the 221st PACE recommendation, Armenia within the framework of its Council of Europe membership, undertook responsibility in connection with the conflict’s solution.

“The Council of Europe should demand from Armenia to execute these obligations and respect the norms and principles of international law in order to contribute to the conflict’s settlement,” he 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. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.