ARMENIAN PRESIDENT, OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS DISCUSS PROSPECTS OF SARGSYAN-ALIEV MEETING

ARKA
Sep 25, 2008

YEREVAN, September 25. /ARKA/. President Serge Sargsyan and OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairs met in New York on Wednesday and discussed
prospects of a meeting between Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents,
presidential pres office reports.

Armenian president traveled to New York to attend 63rd session of UN
General Assembly.

Representative of the OSCE Acting President Andrzej Kasprzik and
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan were present at the
meeting.

Earlier, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov didn’t rule
out that the two presidents may meet before Azerbaijani presidential
election scheduled for October 15.

Karabakh conflict broke out in 1988 when Artsakh, mainly populated
by Armenians, declared its independence from Azerbaijan.

On December 10, 1991, a few days after the collapse of the Soviet
Union, a referendum took place in Nagorno-Karabakh, and the majority
of the population (99.89%) voted for secession from Azerbaijan.

Afterwards, large-scale military operations began. As a result,
Azerbaijan lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven provinces
adjacent to it.

On May 12, 1994, Bishkek cease-fire agreement put an end to the war.

Since 1992, negotiations over the peaceful settlement of the conflict
have been carried out under mediation of OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired
by the USA, Russia and France.