OSCE TO MONITOR CONTACT LINE BETWEEN AZERBAIJANI, ARMENIAN ARMIES

Trend
Feb 9 2009
Azerbaijan

Monitoring will be held on the contact line between Armenian and
Azerbaijani armed forces north-west of the Sarijali village in
Azerbaijan’s Agdam region on Feb. 11, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry
told Trend News. The monitoring will be held after a mandate by the
special envoy of the OSCE chairman.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan
lost all of Nagorno-Karabakh except for Shusha and Khojali in December
1991. In 1992-93, Armenian armed forces occupied Shusha, Khojali and 7
districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed
a ceasefire in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia,
France, and the U.S. – are currently holding the peace negotiations.

The monitoring will be held on the Azerbaijani side by OSCE
Chairman-in-Office Personal Representative field assistants Imre
Palatinus and Vladimir Chountulov.

The monitoring will be held on the opposite side, which the
international community recognizes as Azerbaijani territory, by OSCE
Chairman-in-Office Personal Representative field assistants Pieter
Ki and Irji Aberli.