Trend, Azerbaijan
Dec 18 2009

Azerbaijan loses credibility in OSCE Minsk Group: Deputy Speaker

Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 18 / Trend News M.Aliyev /

Azerbaijan loses the credibility in the OSCE Minsk Group mediating in
the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
Azerbaijani Parliamentary Deputy Speaker Bahar Muradova said.

"The OSCE Minsk Group has stated its position only in separate stages
of the negotiations," she said. "However, its representatives have
always refrained from expressing an opinion in connection with the
actions of members of this group."

In its time Russia and France have supported Armenia, she added.

"So they [the OSCE MG] do not condemn one another in this matter and I
do not think that would condemn in the future," Muradova said.

Muradova called on the Minsk Group to fulfill its duties, mobilize
efforts to intensify the negotiations and to represent a solution
acceptable to both parties.

The U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate approved a bill on
the general appropriations for the 2010 fiscal year, according to
which assistance to Nagorno-Karabakh will be allocated to the amount
of $8 million. Any restrictions on the implementation of programs in
Karabakh have been removed.

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.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. General Assembly’s
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the
occupied territories.