BRIEF: BAKU ATTACHES GREAT IMPORTANCE TO MEETING OF AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN PRESIDENTS

Trend News Agency
May 31, 2011 Tuesday
Baku, Azerbaijan

May 31–BAKU, Azerbaijan — The presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia
will meet in the third decade of June upon Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev’s initiative, Head of the Foreign Relations Department at
the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration Novruz Mammadov told
journalists today.

“We attach great importance to this meeting. Moreover, the
international community and OSCE Minsk Group member countries also
attach great importance to the meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian
presidents,” 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.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.