AMERICAN DIPLOMAT: USA TO CONTINUE WORK IN OSCE MINSK GROUP

ARKA
Aug 26, 2008

YEREVAN, August 26. /ARKA/. The USA will continue taking part in OSCE
Minsk Group on settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, U.S. Charge
d’Affaires in Armenia Joseph Pennington told journalists in Yerevan.

In commenting the opinion of the Head of Eurasian Policy Center of
Hudson University that participation of the USA and Russia in OSCE
Minsk Group is senseless bearing in mind the current relationship
between the USA and Russia after the events in South Ossetia,
American diplomat said that the one making this statement is not a
U.S. official. An American official could not make such a comment,
Pennington said.

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict started in 1988 when Nagorno-Karabakh
with prevailingly Armenian population declared its withdrawal from
Azerbaijan.

On December 10 1991, just a couple of days before the collapse of
the Soviet Union, a referendum was held in Nagorno-Karabakh in the
presence of international observers where 99.89% of the population
voted for full independence from Azerbaijan.

In response, Azerbaijan launched a large-scale war against
Nagorno-Karabakh.

The cease-fire agreement signed on May 12 1994 has been maintained
since then.

Since 1992 negotiations have been held on peaceful settlement of the
conflict under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by
the USA, Russia and France.