NAGORNO-KARABAKH TALKS TO BE HELD IN 3+3 FORMAT: U.S. CO-CHAIR

Trend News Agency
Oct 31 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, 31 October /TrendNews corr. A.Gasimova/ The
negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be held in
3+3 format. The meeting of the Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian
Presidents to take place in Moscow on 2 November will involve the
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group from Russia, France and the United
States, U.S. co-chair Matthew Bryza said to Trend News from Istanbul
in a telephone conversation on 31 October.

The co-chairs will arrive in Moscow at the invitation of Russian
President Dmitriy Medvedev, who initiated the meeting of the
Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders.

The Foreign Ministers of the three countries are meeting in Moscow
today.

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 countries keep on peace negotiating. OSCE Minsk
Group co-chaired by USA, Russia, France is engaged in peace settling
of the conflict.