OSCE MINSK GROUP STATEMENT: THERE IS NEW IMPETUS TO ADVANCEMENT OF PEACEFUL SETTLEMENT OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT

Trend
April 22 2010
Azerbaijan

High level meetings in Washington, Baku and Moscow provide a
new impetus to the advancement of a peaceful settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis of the Madrid Principles,
the joint statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group says.

Minsk Group Co-Chairs (Ambassador Yuri Merzlyakov, Russian Federation;
Ambassador Bernard Fassier, France; Ambassador Robert Bradtke, United
States) made the statement as a result of their meeting in Moscow on
April 22.

The meeting was organized to discuss recent developments on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, including high level meetings
in Washington, Baku, and Moscow.

The Co-Chairs will travel to Vienna in early May to brief the Minsk
Group on these efforts.

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. Security Council’s resolutions
on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the occupied
territories.