OSCE MINSK GROUP RUSSIAN CO-CHAIR TO LEAVE HIS POSITION

Trend
Dec 24 2009
Azerbaijan

Russian Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Yuriy Merzlyakov hopes to
leave his position next year.

"Last year I said that I hope will soon leave my position as a Minsk
Group co-chair. But, as you can see, it did not happen in 2009,"
Merzlyakov told Trend News over the telephone.

Merzlyakov is likely to resign from the Minsk Group shortly.

"I think it will happen soon. I expect it will happen as early as
next year," he said.

Earlier he told Trend News that he will leave the position of co-chair
in 2009.

"I intend and hope that I will be allowed to leave this position
on the seventh year of service as Russian Co-Chairman of OSCE Minsk
Group. I think it will happen in 2009, Merzlyakov said.

"I intend and hope that I will be allowed to leave this post on the
seventh year of service as Russian Co-Chairman of OSCE Minsk Group. I
think it will happen in 2009, Merzlyakov said.

Merzlyakov is a skilled diplomat. He was Russian Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary ambassador to Kazakhstan, as well as to several African
countries. He worked in different positions in the central office of
the USSR Foreign Ministry, and is a specialist on the Caspian Sea.

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.