OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS HOPE SIDES TO OVERCOME DIFFERENCES SOON TO SECURE PEACE AGREEMENT

Trend News Agency
Jan 29 2009
Azerbaijan

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group hope the parties will be able
to bridge these remaining differences in the nearest future to secure
a peace agreement that is far better for all parties than the status
quo, the press release placed on the OSCE website said.

The Co-Chairs’ goal is a just and balanced agreement based on the
Helsinki Final Act principles of territorial integrity,

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed
forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including
the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts. Azerbaijan
and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of
the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. – are currently
holding the peace negotiations.

"The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassador Bernard Fassier
– France; Ambassador Yuri Merzlyakov – Russian Federation; Deputy
Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza – United States) traveled
to Baku on Jan.19, 2009, where they met with President Ilham Aliyev
and Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, and to Yerevan on Jan. 20,
2009, where they met with President Serzh Sarkisyan and Foreign
Minister Edward Nalbandian.

The Co-Chairs met again jointly with Foreign Ministers Mammadyarov
and Nalbandian in Zurich on Jan. 27, 2009, and organized a joint
meeting with Presidents Aliyev and Sarkisyan in Zurich on Jan. 28,
2009, on the margins of the World Economic Forum.

The Co-Chairs explored with the two Presidents their thoughts on how
to finalize the Basic Principles on the peaceful settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, proceeding from the proposal presented to
the sides at the OSCE Ministerial Conference in Madrid in November
2007.

The Co-Chairs agreed to work with the Foreign Ministers on elaborating
proposals for the consideration of the two Presidents on the most
important remaining differences between the sides existing within
the framework of the Basic Principles.