Federal Council to organize peace forum on Nagorno-Karabakh
Published: Tuesday, Dec 17th 2024, 10:30
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The Federal Council is to organize an international peace forum on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the next year. This is what the National Council wants. On Tuesday, it adopted a motion to this effect from its Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC-N).
A majority in the APK-N is of the opinion that Switzerland should facilitate an open dialog between Azerbaijan and representatives of the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenian people. It should be conducted under international supervision. The aim is to "negotiate the safe and collective return of the Armenian population historically resident there", as the motion states.
The mandate to organize this conference will be given to the national government if the Council of States also approves the proposal. This will now go to the lower chamber.
In September 2023, the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh capitulated to pressure from Azerbaijan, which surrounded it. More than 100,000 Armenians were displaced. This was preceded by an almost ten-month siege of the internationally unrecognized republic proclaimed by Armenians.
The National Council voted in favor of the proposal by 96 votes to 80 with 16 abstentions. The "no" votes came primarily from the ranks of the conservatives, although a number of councillors also voted "yes".
Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis opposed the motion. He said that neither Armenia nor Azerbaijan wanted a peace forum. Such a conference would therefore not be relevant and could even be counterproductive.
©Keystone/SDA
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