EU appoints new envoy on Georgia crisis, Karabakh

ISTANBUL

The EU on Monday unveiled Estonian diplomat Toivo Klaar as a Special Representative for South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia, including the ongoing conflict over occupied Karabakh.

Klaar, a former head of the EU's monitoring mission to Georgia, replaces Germany's Herbert Salber who had held the post since 2014.

Azerbaijan and Armenia remain in dispute over the occupied Karabakh region. Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan in 1991 with Armenian military support, and a peace process has yet to be implemented.

A Nov. 9 meeting of NATO's Parliamentary Assembly in Ljubljana, Slovenia, heard Azerbaijani lawmaker Malahat Ibrahimgizi say 25 years of Armenian occupation had caused 1 million Azerbaijanis to become refugees or internally displaced.

Turkey reiterates that the dispute needs to be resolved within the framework of international law and Azerbaijan's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Georgia is locked in diplomatic conflict over two breakaway regions -- South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Tbilisi fought a five-day war with Russia in 2008 over the territories but lost control of both. Russia later recognized both South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.

The only UN member states to recognize the breakaway regions are Russia, Nicaragua, and Nauru.

ISTANBUL

The EU on Monday unveiled Estonian diplomat Toivo Klaar as a Special Representative for South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia, including the ongoing conflict over occupied Karabakh.

Klaar, a former head of the EU's monitoring mission to Georgia, replaces Germany's Herbert Salber who had held the post since 2014.

Azerbaijan and Armenia remain in dispute over the occupied Karabakh region. Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan in 1991 with Armenian military support, and a peace process has yet to be implemented.

Turkey reiterates that the dispute needs to be resolved within the framework of international law and Azerbaijan's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Georgia is locked in diplomatic conflict over two breakaway regions -- South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Tbilisi fought a five-day war with Russia in 2008 over the territories but lost control of both. Russia later recognized both South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.

The only UN member states to recognize the breakaway regions are Russia, Nicaragua, and Nauru.