NEW SHADES IN SETTLEMENT OF ARMENIA-AZERBAIJANI CONFLICT – MINISTER

Trend News Agency
June 10 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, 10 June / Trend News corr S. Agayeva/ New shades
occurred in settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. "Now we
work over those provisions of the Madrid proposals on settlement of
the conflict which have not yet been coordinated," Azerbaijani Foreign
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said to journalists in Baku on 10 May.

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

"Those uncoordinated points are principal for us and we provided
opportunity to OSCE Minsk Group intermediaries to work with Armenian
side on their own," Minister said.

As to the last meeting between Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents
which took place in St Petersburg on 6 June, Mammadyarov said that
the meeting was of evaluation character. "We presented our positions
to each other and decided to give time to Minsk Group co-chairs to
find new ways to put forward sides’ positions," Minister said.