TREND , Azerbaijan
Nov 29 2008

OSCE Hopes for Settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict within Short
Period of Time
29.11.08 09:00

Azerbaijan, Baku, 28 November /TrendNews corr. R.Novruzov/ The
Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE) hopes for settlement
of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within a short period of time.

Recent activation of negotiation process around settlement of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict aroused hope to solve the conflict
within a short period of time, Goran Lennmarker, rapporteur of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
said.

Armenia has occupied 20% of Azerbaijan’s lands including
Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding seven regions. The occupation began
in 1988. 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

Lennmarker intends to discuss new ideas with Foreign Ministers of
Azerbaijan and Armenia, Elmar Mammadyarov and Edvard Nalbandyan in
Helsinki during a meeting of the OSCE Foreign Ministers to improve
negotiation process on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the rapporteur
of the PA OSCE told TrendNews via telephone from Stockholm.

The OSCE Foreign Ministers will assemble within the framework of
annual conference of the OSCE Foreign Ministers to be held in the
Finnish capital on 4 and 5 December.

`Both sides will get many positive things from solution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,’ Lennmarker believes.

According to Lennmarker, after solution of the conflict, Azerbaijan
can cut its military expenditures and internally displaced people can
repatriate.

`I have seen refugees, their difficult life condition and it is
difficult for me to realize that these people even cannot visit
cemetery of their death relatives,’ Lennmarker said.

`As to Armenia, it can improve relations with neighbor countries,
including Azerbaijan and Turkey, which will stimulate development of
its economy,’ the representative of the OSCE said.

After Helsinki, Lennmarker plans to visit the region and discuss
possible ways of solution of the conflict with leadership of
Azerbaijan and Armenia.