AZERBAIJAN ACCUSES MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS OF INFLAMING NEW WAR

ARMENPRESS
March 31, 2008

BAKU, MARCH 31, ARMENPRESS: Azerbaijani defense ministry accused
Russia, USA and France of stirring up a new war between Armenia and
his country.

The three countries are the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group that
has been handling since 1992 efforts to help Armenia and Azerbaijan
end their dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Azerbaijan has stepped up its never-ending criticism of the Minsk
Group after representatives of the three countries in the UN voted
against an Azerbaijani resolution demanding that Armenian troops be
pulled out from regions surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh.

"Unfortunately, the co-chairs who have failed over these 15 years to
find a conflict settlement option questioned the resolution passed
by the UN by voting against it," said Eldar Sabirogly, a spokesman
for Azerbaijani defense ministry.

He was quoted by Trend news agency as saying that the resolution,
endorsed by 39 UN members, mostly by countries form the organization
of Islamic Conference (OIC) is a document that has a program for
ending the conflict.

"The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs should not have behaved like that
(to vote against the resolution).

Instead of trying to stave off a new bloodshed they have taken sides
with one of the conflicting parties and therefore their activity is
aimed actually at inflaming a new war,’ he was quoted as saying.