HEAD OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH AZERBAIJANI COMMUNITY TO LIKELY VISIT SHUSHA, KHANKANDI

Trend
July 7 2009
Azerbaijan

The head of the Nagorno-Karabakh Azerbaijani community has not
excluded possibility of visiting Shusha and Khankandi as part of the
next visits.

"The delegation which left Azerbaijan for Nagorno-Karabakh last week
also comprises a member of our community," Head of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Azerbaijani community Bayram Safarov told Trend News on July 6.

Azerbaijani and Armenian Ambassadors to Russia Polad Bul-Bul oglu
and Armen Smbatian, as well as Head of Federal Agency for Culture
and Cinematography Mikhail Shvydko are on visit in the unrecognized
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. On July 3, Smbatian, Polad Bul-Bul oglu and
Shvydko met with the President of the unrecognized NKR Bako Saakyan
in Khankandi, the Armenian media reported.

A six-member Azerbaijani delegation, as well as two members of the
Azerbaijani parliament Asim Mollazade and Rovshan Rzayev and composer
Siyavush Karimi arrived in Khankandi.

The Azerbaijani delegation left for Armenia and met with President
Serzh Sargsyan.

At the end of the day, the Azerbaijani and Armenian delegations met
with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, as well.

This is the second visit of the Azerbaijani and Armenian ambassadors
to Russia to the Nagorno-Karabakh.

Representatives of the Armenian and Azerbaijani intelligentsia visited
Khankandi, Yerevan and Baku on June 28 in 2007 upon the initiative
of the two countries’ ambassadors to Russia.

Safarov said during the co-chairs’ visit to Azerbaijan, they will
make every efforts to organize a meeting of the community with the
mediators.

"Meetings with the international organizations have a familiarization
character. I believe the meeting with the OSCE chairperson-in-office
who arrived in Azerbaijan last week will be useful for future of our
activity," the head of the community said.

Headquarters have been given to the community, Safarov said. "But it
is necessary to repair this site. As now we have new headquarters, our
activity will strengthen more. We will seek to act to meet interests
of the Azerbaijani people of the Nagorno-Karabakh," he said.

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.