TALKS ON ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN CONFLICT HELD UPON MAJOR PRINCIPLES: AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTER

Trend
Oct 29 2009
Azerbaijan

The talks to solve Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict have been held still
on the basis of major principles, Azerbaijani foreign minister Elmar
Mammadyarov told media on October 29.

The meeting between Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers with
participation of Georgian foreign minister and EU representatives was
held during the breakfast in Luxembourg on October 26. There was not a
bilateral meeting between Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers,
minister said.

Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers discussed conditions to
prepare new proposals by co-chairmen during the meeting with mediators,
Mammadyarov said.

Russian, French and U.S co-chairmen of OSCE Minsk Group will arrive
in the region to continue the negotiating process in early November,
minister said.

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.