NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT TO BE DISCUSSED AT NATO PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY

Trend News Agency
Sept 15 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Lankaran, 15 September / Trend News corr. P.Aliyeva /
The NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s autumn session will take place in
Spain in November, Ziyafat Asgarov, the Azerbaijani Parliamentary
vice speaker told journalists on 15 September.

Azerbaijan is an associative member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly
since 2001. There is cooperation between Azerbaijan and NATO within
the framework of the Partnership for Peace Program since 1994.

According to Asgarov, the agenda of this session has not yet submitted
to Azerbaijan. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will also be discussed
at the session, he said.

Armenia has occupied 20% of the Azerbaijani territory, including
Nagorno-Karabakh and seven regions around it. The conflict between
the two countries of the South Caucasus began in 1988 due to
Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan lost
the Nagorno-Karabakh, except of Shusha and Khojali, in December
1991. In 1992-93, Armenian Armed Forces occupied Shusha, Khojali and
Nagorno-Karabakh’s seven surrounding regions. 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, but fruitless
negotiations.

About 10 OSCE countries established in 1992 Minsk Group for peaceful
settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Since 1997, Minsk Group
includes co-chairmen from three countries – the United States, Russia
and France.