Sputnik News Service
 Friday 12:01 AM UTC


OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Note Need for Compromises for
Nagorno-Karabakh Settlement


YEREVAN, September 28 (Sputnik) – The sides to the conflict in the
Nagorno-Karabakh region should make compromises in order for the
situation to be settled, the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group,
mediating the negotiations on the crisis resolution, said in a
statement on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and his
Armenian counterpart Zohrab Mnatsakanyan met for talks on the
sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York City. The co-chairs
of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of Russia, Stephane Visconti of
France and Andrew Schofer of the United States) met separately and
jointly with the two top diplomats over the past days. Personal
Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk also
participated in the negotiations.

"The Co-Chairs and the Ministers discussed the situation in the region
and sought clarification with respect to several recent statements and
incidents of concern. The Co-Chairs expressed deep regret over the
continuing and unnecessary loss of life. They cautioned the Ministers
about the dangers of escalation, called on the parties to engage
constructively in a positive atmosphere, and to avoid inflammatory
rhetoric. The Co-Chairs underscored that a comprehensive settlement
will require compromises on all sides," the statement read.

Mammadyarov and Mnatsakanyan, in their turn, reiterated the importance
of taking steps to defuse tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh, according to
the statement.

Earlier in the day, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said that
Mammadyarov and Mnatsakanyan had agreed to resume their talks on the
conflict settlement in October. Moreover, the co-chairs of the OSCE
Minsk Group had agreed that they would visit the region the next
month, the ministry added.

Azerbaijan's Armenian-dominated region of Nagorno-Karabakh proclaimed
its independence in 1991 which resulted in a military conflict in the
area.

The OSCE has been mediating the talks on the status of the region since 1992.

Baku claims that the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR)
had occupied its territory, and insists on the preservation of
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, while the interests of the
self-proclaimed republic in the peace process are represented by
Armenia, as NKR is not a part of the talks.