OSCE MINSK GROUP’S CO-CHAIRMEN TO VISIT ARMENIA

TREND News Agency, Azerbaijan
May 21 2007

Azerbaijan, Baku / Òrend corr E. Huseynov / The co-chairmen of the
OSCE Minsk Group on peaceful settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will visit the South Caucasus region on
22 May, the Russian co-chairman of the Minsk Group, Yuri Merzlakov,
reported on 21 May.

The mission of mediators will arrive in Yerevan, Armenia on the evening
of 22 May a will hold two day consultations with the administration of
Armenia. "We intend to continue coordination of basic principles of
the settlement that we have been doing in the last year," Merzlakov
said. The organization of the next round of direct negotiations
between the Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents planned for June in
St Petersburg will be on the agenda of the consultations.

After talks in Yerevan the mediators will visit Baku and hold the
similar negotiations with the representatives of the Azerbaijani
administration. The Russian diplomat noted that they would not visit
the Nagorno-Karabakh due to lack of time.

The delegation will include the Russian and French co-chairmen of the
Minsk Group, Yuri Merzlakov and Bernard Facie. The US co-chairman,
Mathew Bryze, will not attend this mission. "This time Bryze cannot
visit the region, but he will do next time during the regular visit
of the co-chairmen to be held in the first half of June," the Russian
diplomat said. Next time the co-chairmen will visit the South Caucasus
after the visit of the acting OSCE Chairman, the Foreign Minister of
Spain, Miguel Angel Moratinos, scheduled for 4-5 June.

The mediators will discuss the possibility of a meeting between the
Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents, Robert Kocharian and Ilham Aliyev,
likely to be held on 10 June in St Petersburg.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries broke out in
1988 in view of Armenia’s territorial claims to Azerbaijan. Some 20%
of Azerbaijani territory (Nagorno-Karabakh and 7 nearby regions)
have been occupied by Armenian Armed Forces since 1992. In May of
1994 a ceasefire agreement was signed between the sides. Peaceful
negotiations under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired
by Russia, France and the United States are still fruitless.

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