Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
Jan 14 2008

Proposals on Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict Regulation for the first time
Submitted by OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs Simultaneously to Azerbaijan
and Armenia in Madrid
14.01.08 10:48

Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr. Ê.Ramazanova / Bernard Fassier, the
OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, answering to the questions of journalists
in Baku airport on 13 January stated that the proposals on the
regulation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were for the first time
officially submitted in Madrid.

`For the first time since the beginning of the negotiations the three
Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group submitted the proposals on the
regulation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict simultaneously.’
According to Fassier, the proposals have a positive character for
Azerbaijan and Armenia.

`Now, the both sides have enough time to think over the made
proposals,’ Fassier said. The monitoring on the contact line between
the both countries is expected to hold on 16 January.

The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began in
1988, due to the Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan.
Since 1992, the Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20% of
Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven
neighbouring districts. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a
ceasefire agreement which ended the active hostilities. The Co-Chairs
of the OSCE Minsk Group ( Russia, France, and the US) are currently
holding the peaceful negotiations.